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PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



MARIA EDGEWORTH, 

u 

AUTHOR OF "LETTERS FOR LITERARV LADIES," &C. 



RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH, 

F.R.S. AND M.R.I. A. 
COMPLETE IN ONK VOLUME. 



N E W - Y O R K : 

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 

NO 82 CLIFF-STREET, 

AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROrGHOlT THK 
UNITED STATK?. 

183 5. 



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PREFACE. 



We shall not imitate the invidious example of some 
authors, who thmk it necessary to destroy the edifices of 
others, in order to clear the way for their own. We 
have no peculiar system to support, and, consequently, 
we have no temptation to attack the theories of others ; 
and we have chosen the title of " Practical Education," 
to point out that we rely entirely upon practice and expe- 
rience. 

To make any progress in the art of education, it must 
be patiently reduced to an experimental science : we are 
fully sensible of the extent and difficulty of this under- 
taking, and we have not the arrogance to imagine, that 
we have made any considerable progress in a work which 
the labours of many generations may, perhaps, be insuffi- 
cient to complete ; but we lay before the public the re- 
sult of our experiments, and in many instances the exper- 
iments themselves. In pursuing this part of our plan, 
we have sometimes descended from that elevation of style 
which the reader might expect in a quarto volume ; we 
have frequently been obliged to record facts concerning 
children which may seem trifling, and to enter into a 
minuteness of detail which may' appear unnecessary. 
No anecdotes, however, have been admitted without due 
deliberation ; nothing has been introduced to gratify the 
idle curiosity of others, or to indulge our own feelings of 
domestic partiality. 

In what we have written upon the rudiments of science, 
we have pursued an opposite plan ; so far from attempt- 
ing to teach them m detail, we refer our readers to the 
excellent treatises on the ditFerent branches of science, 
and on the various faculties of the human mind, which 



VIU PREFACE. 

are to be found in every language. The chapters that 
we have introduced upon these subjects, are intended 
merely as specimens of the manner in which we think 
young children should be taught. We have found, from 
experience, that an early knowledge of the first princi- 
ples of science may be given in conversation, and may be 
insensibly acquired from the usual incidents of life ; if 
this knowledge be carefully associated with the technical 
terms which common use may preserve in the memory, 
much of the difficulty of subsequent instruction may be 
avoided. 

The sketches we have hazarded upon these subjects, 
may to some appear too slight, and to others too abstruse 
and tedious. To those who have explored the vast mines 
of human knowledge, small specimens appear trifling and 
contemptible, while the less accustomed eye is some- 
what dazzled and confused by the appearance even of a 
small collection ; but to the most enlightened minds, new 
combinations may be suggested by a new arrangement 
of materials, and the curiosity and enthusiasm of the in- 
experienced may be awakened, and excited to accurate 
and laborious researches. 

With respect to what is commonly called the educa- 
tion of the heart, we have endeavoured to suggest the 
easiest means of inducing useful and agreeable habits, 
well-regulated sympathy, and benevolent affections. A 
witty writer says, " II est permis d'ennuyer en moralites 
d'ici jusqu'a Constantinople." Unwilling to avail our- 
selves of this permission, we have sedulously avoided dec- 
lamation, and, wherever we have been obliged to repeat 
ancient maxims and common truths, we have at least 
thought it becoming to present them in a new dress. 

On religion and pohtics we have been silent, because 
we have no ambition to gain partisans, or to make pros- 
elytes, and because we do not address ourselves exclu- 
sively to any sect or to any party. The scrutinizing eye 
of criticism, in looking over our table of contents, will 
also, probably, observe that there are no chapters on 
courage and chastity. To pretend to teach courage to 
Britons, would be as ridiculous as it is unnecessary ; and, 



PREFACE. IX 

except among those who are exposed to the contagion 
of foreign manners, we may boast of the superior dehcacy 
of our fair countrywomen ; a dehcacy acquired from do- 
mestic example, and confirmed by pubhc approbation. 
Our opinions concerning the female character and under- 
standing, have been fully detailed in a former publica- 
tion;* and, unwilling to fatigue by repetition, we have 
touched but slightly upon these subjects in our chapters 
on Temper, Female Accomplishments, Prudence, and 
Economy. 

We have warned our readers not to expect from us 
any new theory of education ; but they need not appre- 
hend that we have written without method, or that we 
have thrown before them a heap of desultory remarks and 
experiments, which lead to no general conclusions, and 
which tend to the establishment of no useful principles. 
We assure them that we have worked upon a regular 
plan, and where we have failed of executing our design, 
it has not been for want of labour or attention. Con- 
vinced that it is the duty and the interest of all who write, 
to inquire what others have said and thought upon the 
subject of which they treat, we have examined attentively 
the works of others, that we might collect whatever 
knowledge they contain, and that we might neither arro- 
gate inventions which do not belong to us, nor weary the 
public by repetition. Some useful and ingenious essays 
may probably have escaped our notice ; but we flatter 
ourselves that our readers will not find reason to accuse 
us of negligence, as we have perused with diligent at- 
tention every work upon education that has obtained the 
sanction of time or of public approbation ; and, though we 
have never bound ourselves to the letter, we hope that 
we have been faithful to the spirit, of their authors. 
Without encumbering ourselves with any part of their 
systems which has not been authorized by experience, we 
have steadily attempted immediately to apply to practice 
such of their ideas as we have thought useful ; but while 
we have used the thoughts of others, we have been anx- 

* Letters for Literary Ladies. Vide p. 185, vol. vii. Harper's Ed 

A3 



X PREFACE. 

ious to avoid mean plagiarism ; and wherever we have 
borrowed, the debt has been carefully acknowledged. 

The first hint of the chapter on Toys vs^as received 
from Dr. Beddoes ; the sketch of an introduction to 
cliymistry for children was given to us by Mr. Lovell 
Edgeworth ; and the rest of the work was resumed from 
a design formed and begun twenty years ago. When a 
book appears under the name of two authors, it is natural 
to inquire what share belongs to each of them. All that 
relates to the art of teaching to read in the chapter on 
Tasks, the chapters on Grammar and Classical Litera- 
ture, Geography, Chronology, Arithmetic, Geometry, and 
Mechanics, were written by Mr. Edgeworth, and the rest 
of the book by Miss Edgeworth. She w^as encouraged 
and enabled to write upon this important subject, by 
having for many years before her eyes the conduct of a 
■ judicious mother in the education of a large family. The 
chapter on Obedience was written from Mrs. Edge worth's 
notes, and was exemplified by her successful practice in 
the management of her children ; the whole manuscript 
was submitted to her judgment, and she revised parts oi. 
it in the la.st stage of a fatal disease. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

I. Toys 13 

II. Tasks 38 

III. On Attention 64 

IV. Sei-vants 96 

V. Acquaintance - - - - - 106 

VI. On Temper 120 

VII. On Obedience 133 

VIII. On Truth 146 

IX. On Rewards and Punishments - - 172 

' X. On Sympathy and Sensibility - - 200 

XI. On Vanity, Pride, and Ambition - - 225 

XII. Books 238 

XIII. On Grammar and Classical Literature - 287 

XIV. On Geography and Chronology - - 309 
XV. On Arithmetic 314 

XVI. Geometry 329 

XVII. On Mechanics 332 

XVIII. Chymistry 356 

XIX. On PubUc and Private Education - 362 

XX. On Female Accomplishments, &;c. - 376 

XXI. Memory and Invention - - - 401 

XXII. Taste and Imagination - - - 435 

XXIII. Wit and Judgment - - - - 466 

XXIV. Prudence and Economy - - - 494 
XXV. Summary 511 

APPENDIX. 

Notes, containing Conversations and Anecdotes of 

Children - 524 



PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER I. 



" Why don't you play with your playthings, my dear? 
I am sure that I have bought toys enough for you ; why 
can't you divert yourself with them, instead of break- 
ing them to pieces V says a mother to her child, who 
stands idle and miserable, surrounded by disjointed dolls, 
maimed horses, coaches, and one-horse chairs without 
wheels, and a nameless wreck of gilded lumber. 

A child in this situation is surely more to be pitied 
than blamed ; for is it not vain to repeat, " Why don't 
you play with your playthings," unless they be such as 
he can play with, which is very seldom the case ; and 
is it not rather unjust to be angry with him for breaking 
them to pieces, when he can by no other device render 
them subservient to his amusement ? He breaks them, 
not from the love of mischief, but from the hatred of 
idleness ; either he wishes to see what his playthings 
are made of, and how they are made ; or, whether he 
can put them together again, if the parts be once separ- 
ated. All this is perfectly innocent ; and it is a pity 
that his love of knowledge and his spirit of activity 
should be repressed by the undistingoishing correction 
of a nursery-maid, or the unceasing reproof of a French 
governess. 

The more natural vivacity and ingenuity young people 
possess, the less are they likely to be amused with the 
toys which are usually put into their hands. They 
require to have things which exercise their senses or 
their imagination, their imitative and inventive powers. 
The glaring colours, or the gilding of toys, may catch 



14 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

the eye, and please for a few minutes ; but unless some 
use can be made of them, they will, and ought to be 
soon discarded. A boy, who has the use of his limbs, 
and whose mind is untainted with prejudice, would, in 
all probability, prefer a substantial cart, in which he 
could carry weeds, earth, and stones, up and down hill, 
to the finest frail coach and six that ever came out of a 
toyshop : for what could he do with the coach after 
having- admired and sucked the paint, but drag it cau- 
tiously along the carpet of a drawing-room, watching the 
wheels, which will not turn, and seeming to sympathize 
with the just terrors of the lady and gentleman within, 
who are certain of being overturned every five minutes ? 
When he is tired of this, perhaps, he may set about to 
unharness horses which were never meant to be unhar- 
nessed ; or to currycomb their woollen manes and tails, 
which usually come off" during the first attempt. 

That such toys are frail and useless, may, however, 
be considered as evils comparatively small : as long as 
the child has sense and courage to destroy the toys, 
there is no great harm done ; but, in general, he is 
taught to set a value upon them totally independent of 
all ideas of utility, or of any regard to his own real feel- 
ings. Either he is conjured to take particular care of 
them, because they cost a great deal of money, or else 
he is taught to admire them as miniatures of some of 
the fine things on which fine people pride themselves ; 
if no other bad consequence were to ensue, this single 
circumstance of his being guided in his choice by the 
opinion of others is dangerous. Instead of attending 
to his own sensations, and learning from his own ex- 
perience, he acquires the habit of estimating his pleas- 
ures by the taste and judgment of those who happen 
to be near him. 

" I liked the cart best," says the boy, " but mamma 
and everybody said that the coach was the prettiest ; 
so I chose the coach." — Shall we wonder if the same 
principle afterward governs him in the choice of " the 
toys of age ?" 

A little girl, presiding at her baby tea-table, is pleased 
with the notion that she is like her mamma ; and, before 
she can have any idea of the real pleasures of conver- 
sation and societ)^ she is confirmed in the persuasion, 
that tattling and visiting are some of the most enviable 
privileges of grown people ; a set of beings whom she 



TOYS. 15 

believes to be in possession of all the sweets of hap- 
piness. 

Dolls, beside the prescriptive right of ancient usage, 
can boast of such an able champion in Rousseau, that it 
requires no conmion share of temerity to attack them. 
As far as they are the means of inspiring girls with a 
taste for neatness in dress, and with a desire to make 
those things for themselves for which women are 
usually dependant upon milliners, we must acknowl- 
edge their utility ; but a watchful eye should be kept 
upon the child, to mark the first symptoms of a love of 
finery and fashion. It is a sensible remark of a late 
female writer, that while young people work, the mind 
will follow the hands ; the thoughts are occupied with 
trifles, and the industry is stimulated by vanity. 

Our objections to dolls are offered with great submis- 
sion and due hesitation. With more confidence we may 
venture to attack baby-houses ; an unfurnished baby- 
house might be a good toy, as it would employ little 
carpenters and seamstresses to fit it up ; but a com- 
pletely furnished baby-house proves as tiresome to a 
child, as a finished seat is to a young nobleman. After 
peeping, for in general only a peep can be had into each 
apartment, after being thoroughly satisfied that nothing 
is wanting, and that consequently there is nothing to be 
done, the young lady lays her doll upon the state bed, 
if the doll be not twice as large as the bed, and falls fast 
asleep in the midst of her felicity. 

Before dolls, baby-houses, coaches, and cups and sau- 
cers, there comes a set of toys, which are made to imi- 
tate the actions of men and women, and the ne^tes or 
noises of birds and beasts. Many of these are ingenious 
in their construction, and happy in their effect ; but that 
effect, unfortunately, is transitory. When the wooden 
w' Oman has churned her hour in her empty churn ; when 
the stiff-backed man has hammered or sawed till his 
arms are broken, or till his employers are tired ; v/hen 
the gilt lamb has baaed, the obstinate pig squeaked, and 
the provoking cuckoo cried cuck-oo, till no one in the 
house can endure the noise ; what remains to be done? 
—Wo betide the unlucky little philosopher, who should 
think of inquiring why the woman churned, or how the 
bird cried cuck-oo ; for it is ten to one that in prosecu- 
ting such an inquirvs just when he is upon the eve of dis- 
covery, he snaps the wire, or perforates the bellows, 



16 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and there ensue " a deathlike silence and a dread re- 
pose." 

The grief which is felt for spoiling a new plaything 
might be borne, if it were not increased, as it commonly 
is, by the reproaches of friends ; much kind eloquence, 
upon these occasions, is frequently displayed, to bring 
the sufferer to a proper sense of his folly, till, indue time, 
the contrite corners of his mouth are drawn down, his 
wide eyes fill with tears, and, without knowing what he 
means, he promises never to be so silly any more. The 
future safety of his worthless playthings is thus pur- 
chased at the expense of his understanding, perhaps of 
his integrity ; for children seldom scrupulously adhere 
to promises which they have made to escape from im- 
pending punishment. 

We have ventured to object to some fashionable toys ; 
we are bound at least to propose others in their place ; 
and we shall take the matter up soberly from the nursery. 

The first toys for infants should be merely such things 
as may be grasped without danger, and which might, by 
the difference of their sizes, invite comparison : round 
ivory or wooden sticks should be put into their little 
hands ; by degrees they will learn to lift them to their 
mouths, and they will distinguish their sizes : square 
and circular bits of wood, balls, cubes, and triangles, 
with holes of different sizes made in them, to admit the 
sticks, should be their playthings. No greater appara- 
tus is necessary for the amusement of the first months 
of an infant's life. To ease the pain which they feel 
from cutting teeth, infants generally carry to their 
mouths whatever they can lay their hands upon ; but 
they' soon learn to distinguish those bodies which re- 
lieve their pain from those which gratify their palate ; 
and, if Hiey are left to themselves, they will always 
choose what is painted in preference to every thing 
else ; nor must we attribute the look of delight with 
which they seize toys that are painted red, merely to 
the pleasure which their eye takes in the bright colour, 
but to the love of the sweet taste which they suck from 
the paint. What injury may be done to the health by 
the quantity of lead which is thus swallowed, we will 
not pretend to determine ; but we refer to a medical 
name of high authority,* whose cautions probably will 

* Pr. Fotherffill. 



TOYS. 17 

not be treated with neglect. To gratify the eye with 
g-littering objects, if this be necessary, may be done 
with more safety by toys of tin and polished iron : a 
common steel button is a more desirable plaything to a 
young child than many expensive toys ; a few such but- 
tons tied together, so as to prevent any danger of their 
being swallowed, would continue for some time a source 
of amusement. 

When a nurse wants to please or to pacify a child, she 
stuns its ear with a variety of noises, or dazzles its eye 
with glaring colours or stimulating light. The eye and 
the ear are thus fatigued without advantage, and the 
temper is hushed to a transient calm by expedients, 
which in time must lose their effect, and which can 
have no power over confirmed fretfulness. The pleas- 
ure of exercising their senses is in itself sufficient to 
children, without any factitious stimulus, which only ex- 
hausts their excitabiUty, and renders them incapable of 
being amused by a variety of common objects, which 
would naturally be their entertainment. We do not 
here speak of the attempts made to sooth a child who 
is ill : " to charm the sense of pain," so far as it can be 
done by diverting the child's attention from his own 
sufferings to outward objects, is humane and reasonable, 
provided our compassion does not induce in the child's 
mind the expectation of continual attendance, and that 
impatience of temper which increases bodily suffering. 
It would be in vain to read lectures on philosophy to a 
nurse, or to expect stoicism from an infant ; but, per- 
haps, where mothers pay attention themselves to their 
children, they will be able to prevent many of the con- 
sequences of vulgar prejudice and folly. A nurse's wish 
is to have as little trouble as possible with the child 
committed to her charge, and at the same time to flatter 
the mother, from whom she expects her reward. The 
appearance of extravagant fondness for the child, of 
incessant attention to its humour, and absurd submission 
to its caprices, she imagines to be the surest method of 
recommending herself to favour. She is not to be im- 
posed upon by the faint and affected rebukes of the fond 
mother, who exclaims, " Oh, nurse, indeed you do spoil 
that child sadly! — Oh, nurse, upon my word, she gov- 
erns you entirely ! — Nurse, you must not let her have 
her own way always. — Never mind her crying, I beg, 
nurse." — Nurse smiles, sees that she has gained her 



18 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

point, and promises what she knows it is not expected 
she should perform. Now if, on the contrary, she per- 
ceived that the mother was neither to be flattered nor 
pleased by these means, one motive for spoiling the 
child would immediately cease : another strong one 
would, it is true, still remain. A nurse wishes to save 
herself trouMe, and she frequently consults her own con- 
venience when she humours an infant. She hushes it 
to sleep, that she may leave it safely ; she stops it from 
crying, that she may not hear an irritating noise, that 
she may relieve herself as soon as possible from the 
painful weakness of compassion, or that she may avoid 
the danger of being interrogated by the family as to the 
cause of the disturbance. It is less trouble to her to 
yield to caprice and ill-humour than to prevent or cure 
it, or at least she thinks it is so. In reality it is not ; 
for a humoured child in time plagues its attendant infi- 
nitely more than it would have done with reasonable 
management. If it were possible to convince nurses of 
this, they would sacrifice perhaps the convenience of a 
moment to the peace of future hours ; and they would 
not be eager to quell one storm at the hazard of being 
obliged to endure twenty more boisterous ; the candle 
would then no more be thrust almost into the infant's 
eyes to make it take notice of the light through the 
mist of tears, the eternal bunch of keys would not dance 
and jingle at every peevish summons, nor would the 
roarings of passion be overpowered by insulting songs, 
or soothed by artful caresses ; the child would then be 
caressed and amused when he looks smiling and good- 
humoured, and all parties would be much happier. 

Practical education begins very early, even in the 
nursery. Without the mountebank pretence, that mira- 
cles can be performed by the turning of a straw, or the 
dictatorial anathematizing tone, which calls dowji ven- 
geance upon those who do not follow to an iota the in* 
junctions of a theorist, we may simply observe, that 
parents would save themselves a great deal of trouble, 
and their children some pain, if they would pay some 
attention to their early education. The temper acquires 
habits much earlier than is usually apprehended ; the 
first impressions which infants receive, and the first 
■habits which they learn from their nurses, influence 
the tamper and disposition long after the slight causes 
which produced them are forgotten. More care and 



tOYS. 10 

judgment than usually fall to the share of a nurse are 
necessary, to cultivate the disposition which infants 
show to exercise their senses, so as neither to suffer 
them to become indolent and torpid from want of proper 
objects to occupy their attention, nor yet to exhaust 
their senses by continual excitation. By ill-timed re- 
straints or injudicious incitements, the nurse frequentlj- 
renders the child obstinate or passionate. An infant 
should never be interrupted in its operations ; while it 
wishes to use its hands, we should not be impatient to 
make it walk ; or when it is pacing, with all the atten- 
tion to its centre of gravity that is exerted by a rope- 
dancer, suddenly arrest its progress, and insist upon its 
pronouncing the scanty vocabulary which we have com- 
pelled it to learn. When children are busily trying ex- 
periments upon objects within their reach, we should 
not, by way of saving them trouble, break the course 
of their ideas, and totally prevent them from acquiring 
knowledge by their own experience. When a foolish 
nurse sees a child attempting to reach or lift any thing, 
she runs immediately — " Oh, dear love, it can't do it, it 
can't !— ril do it for it, so I will !" If the child be try- 
ing the difference between pushing and pulling, rolling 
or slidmg, the powers of the wedge or the lever, the offi- 
cious nurse hastens instantly to display her own knowl- 
edge of the mechanic powers : " Stay, love, stay ; that 
is not the way to do it — I'll show it the right way — see 
here — look at me, love." Without interrupting the 
child in the moment of action, proper care might be 
previously taken to remove out of its way those things 
which can really hurt it ; and a just degree of attention 
must be paid to its first experiments upon hard and 
heavy, and more especially upon sharp, brittle, and 
burning bodies ; but this degree of care should not de- 
generate into cowardice ; it is better that a child should 
tumble down or burn its fingers, than that it should not 
learn the use of its limbs and its senses. We should 
for another reason take care to put all dangerous things 
effectually out of the child's reach, instead of saying 
perpetually, " Take care, don't touch that ! — don't do 
that ! — let that alone !" The child, who scarcely under- 
stands the words, and not at all the reason of these 
prohibitions, is frightened by the tone and countenance 
with which they are uttered and accompanied, and he 
either becomes indolent or cunning ; either he desists 



20 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

from exertion, or seizes the moment to divert himself 
with forbidden objects, when the watchful eye that 
guards them is withdrawn. It is in vain to encompass 
the restless prisoner with a fortification of chairs, and 
to throw him an old almanac to tear to pieces, or an old 
pincushion to explore ; the enterprising adventurer soon 
makes his escape from his barricado, leaves his goods 
behind him, and presently is again in what the nurse 
calls mischief 

Mischief is with nurses frequently only another name 
for any species of activity which they find troublesome ; 
the love which children are supposed to have for putting 
things out of their places, is in reality the desire of see- 
ing things in motion, or of putting things into different 
situations. They will like to put the furniture in a room 
in its proper place, and to arrange every thing in what 
we call order, if we can make these equally permanent 
sources of active amusement ; but when things are once 
in their places, the child has nothing more to do ; and 
the more quickly each chair arrives at its destined 
situation, the sooner comes the dreaded state of idle- 
ness and quiet. 

A nursery, or a room in which young children are to 
live, should never have any furniture in it which they 
can spoil ; as few things as possible should be left within 
their reach which they are not to touch, and at the same 
time they should be provided with the means of amusing 
themselves, not with painted or gilt toys, but with pieces 
of wood of various shapes and sizes, which they may 
build up and pull down, and put in a variety of different 
forms and positions ; balls, pulleys, wheels, strings, and 
strong little carts, proportioned to their age, and to the 
things which they want to carry in them, should be their 
playthings. 

Prints will be entertaining to children at a very early 
age ; it would be endless to enumerate the uses that 
may be made of them ; they teach accuracy of sight, 
thej'' engage the attention, and employ the imagination. 

In 1777 we saw L , a child of two years old, point 

out every piece of furniture in the French prints of Gil 
Bias: in tlie print of the Canon at Dinner, he distin- 
guished the knives, forks, spoons, bottles, and every 
thing upon the table : the dog lying upon the mat, and 
the bunch of keys hanging at Jacintha's girdle ; he told, 
with much readiness, the occupation of every figure in 



TOYS. 21 

the print, and could supply, from his imagination, what 
is supposed to be hidden by the foremost parts of all the 
objects. A child of four years old was asked what was 
meant by something that was very indistinctly repre- 
sented as hanging round the arm of a figure in one of 
the prints of the London Cries. He said it was a glove ; 
though it had as little resemblance to a glove as to a 
riband or a purse. When he was asked how he knew 
that it was a glove, he answered, " that it ought to be 
a glove, because the woman had one upon her other 
arm, and none upon that where the thing was hanging." 
Having seen the gown of a female figure in a print 
hanging obliquely, the same child said, " The wind 
blows that woman's gown back." We mention these 
little circumstances from real life, to show how early 
prints may be an amusement to children, and how 
quickly things unknown are learnt by the relations 
which they bear to what was known before. We should 
at the same time observe, that children are very apt to 
make strange mistakes and hasty conclusions, when 
they begin to reason from analogy. A child having 
asked what was meant by some marks in the forehead 
of an old man in a print, and having been told, upon 
some occasion, that old people were wiser than young 
ones, brought a print containing several figures to his 
mother, and told her that one, which he pointed to, was 
wiser than all the rest ; upon inquiry, it was found that 
he had formed this notion from seeing that one figure 
was wrinkled, and that the others were not. 

Prints for children should be chosen with great care ; 
they should represent objects which are familiar ; the 
resemblances should be accurate, and the manners 
should be attended to ; or, at least, the general moral 
that is to be drawn from them. The attitude of Se- 
phora, the boxing lady in Gil Bias, must appear unnatural 
to children who have not lived with termagant heroines. 
Perhaps the first ideas of grace, beauty, and propriety, 
are considerably influenced by the first pictures and 
prints which please children. Sir Joshua Reynolds tells 
us, that he took a child with him through a room full of 
pictures, and that the child stopped, with signs of aver- 
sion, whenever it came to any picture of a figure in a 
constrained attitude. 

Children soon judge tolerably well of proportion in 
drawing, where they have been used to see the objects 



22 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

which are represented : but we often give them prints 
of objects, and of animals especially, which they have 
never seen, and in which no sort of proportion is ob- 
served. The common prints of animals must give children 
false ideas. The mouse and the elephant are nearly of 
the same size, and the crocodile and whale fill the same 
space in the page. Painters, who put figures of men 
among their buildings, give the idea of the proportionate 
height immediately to the eye : this is, perhaps, the 
best scale we can adopt; in every print for children 
this should be attended to. Some idea of the relative 
sizes of the animals they see represented would then 
be given, and the imagination would not be filled with 
chimeras. 

After having been accustomed to examine prints, and 
to trace their resemblance to real objects, children will 
probably wish to try their own power of imitation. At 
this moment no toy which we could invent for them, 
would give them half so much pleasure as a pencil. If 
we put a pencil into their hands, even before they are 
able to do any thing with it but make random marks all 
over a sheet of paper, it will long continue a real amuse- 
ment and occupation. No matter how rude their first 
attempts at imitation may be ; if the attention of chil- 
dren be occupied, our point is gained. Girls have gen- 
erally one advantage at this age over boys, in the ex- 
clusive possession of the scissors : how many camels, 
and elephants with amazing trunks, are cut out by the 
industrious scissors of a busy, and therefore happy little 
girl, during a winter evening, which passes so heavily, 
and appears so immeasurably long, to the idle. 

Modelling in clay or wax might probably be a useful 
amusement about this age, if the materials were so pre- 
pared that the children could avoid being every mo- 
ment troublesome to others while they are at work. 
The making of baskets, and the weaving of sash-line, 
might perhaps be employment for children ; with proper 
preparations, they might atleast be occupied with these 
things ; much, perhaps, might not be produced by their 
labours, but it is a great deal to give early habits of in- 
dustry. Let us do what we will, every person who has 
ever had any experience upon the subject, must know 
that is scarcely possible to provide sufficient and suit- 
able occupations for young children ; this is one of the 
first difficulties in education. Those who have never 



TOYS. 23 

tried the experiment, are astonished to find it such a 
difficult and laborious business as it really is, to find em- 
ployments for children from three to six years old. It 
is perhaps better that our pupils should be entirely idle, 
than that they should be half employed. *' My dear, 
have you nothing- to 60 V should be spoken in sorrow 
rather than in anger. When they see other people em- 
ployed and happy, children feel mortified and miserable 
to have nothing to do. Count Rumford's was an excel- 
lent scheme for exciting sympathetic industry among 
the children of the poor at Munich ; in the large hall, 
where the elder children were busy in spinning, there 
was a range of seats for the younger children, who 
were not yet permitted to work ; these being compelled 
to sit idle, and to see the busy multitude, grew ex- 
tremely uneasy in their own situation, and became very 
anxious to be employed. We need not use any com- 
pulsion or any artifice ; parents in every family, we sup- 
pose, who think of educating their own children, are 
employed some hours in the day in reading, writing, 
business, or conversation ; during these hours, children 
will naturally feel the want of occupation, and will, 
from sympathy, from ambition, and from impatience of 
insupportable ennui, desire with anxious faces " to have 
something to do." Instead of loading them with play- 
things, by way of relieving their misery, we should 
honestly tell them, if that be the truth, " I am sorry 
I cannot find any thing for you to do at present. I hope 
you will soon be able to employ yourself. What a 
happy thing it will be for you to be able, by-and-by, to 
read, and write, and draw ; then you will never be 
forced to sit idle." 

The pains of idleness stimulate children to industry, 
if they are from time to time properly contrasted with 
the pleasures of occupation. We should associate 
cheerfulness, and praise, and looks of approbation, with 
industry; and whenever young people invent employ- 
ments for themselves, they should be assisted as much 
as possible, and encouraged. At that age when they 
are apt to grow tired in half an hour of their play- 
things, we had better give tliem playthings only for a 
very short time, at intervals in the day ; and, instead of 
waiting till they are tired, we should take the things 
away before they are weary of them. Nor should we 
discourage the inquisitive genius from examniing into 



24 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

the structure of their toys, whatever they may be. The 
same ingenious arid active dispositions which prompt 
these inquiries, will secure children from all those nu- 
merous temptations to do mischief, to which the idle 
are exposed. Ingenious children are pleased with con- 
trivances which answer the pur}x>ses for which they are 
intended ; and they feel sincere regret whenever these 
are injured or destroyed : this we mention as a further 
comfort and security for parents, who, in the company 
of young mechanics, are apt to tremble for their furni- 
ture. Children who observe, and who begin to amuse 
themselves with thought, are not so actively hostile in 
their attacks upon inanimate objects. We were once 
present at the dissection of a wooden cuckoo, which 
was attended with extreme pleasure by a large famil}'- 
of children ; and it was not one of the children who 
broke the precious toy, but it was the father who took 
it to pieces. Nor was it the destruction of the play- 
thing which entertained the company, but the sight of 
the manner in which it was constructed. Many guesses 
were made by all the spectators about the internal struc- 
ture of the cuckoo, and the astonishment of the company 
was universal, when the bellows were cut open and the 
simple contrivance was revealed to view; probably, more 
was learned from this cuckoo, than was ever learned from 
any cuckoo before. So far from being indifferent to the 

destruction of this plaything, H , the little girl of four 

years old to whom it belonged, remembered, several 
months afterward, to remind her father of his promise 
to repair the mischief he had done. 

" Several toys which are made at present, are calcu* 
lated to give pleasure merely by exciting surprise; and 
of course give children's minds such a tone, that they 
are afterward too fond of similar useless baubles.""* This 
species of delight is soon over, and is succeeded by a 
desire to triumph in the ignorance, the creduhty, or the 
cowardice, of their companions. Hence that propensity 
to play tricks, which is often injudiciously encouraged 
by the smiles of parents, who are apt to mistake it for 
a proof of wit and vivacity. They forget, that " gentle 
dulness ever lov'd a joke ;" and that even wit and viva- 
city, if they become troublesome and mischievous, will 
be feared and shunned. Many juggling tricks and puz- 

* Dr. Beddoes. 



TOYS. 25 

zles are highly ingenious ; and, as far as they can exer- 
cise the invention or the patience of young people, they 
are useful. Care, however, should be taken to separate 
the ideas of deceit and of ingenuity, and to prevent chil- 
dren from glorying in the mere possession of a secret. 

Toys which afford trials of dexterity and activity, 
such as tops, kites, hoops, balls, battledoors and shut- 
tlecocks, ninepins, and cup-and-ball, are excellent ; and 
we see that they are consequently great and lasting fa- 
vourites with children; their senses, their understand- 
ing, and their passions, are all agreeably interested and 
exercised by these amusements. They emulate each 
other ; but, as some will probably excel at one game, 
and some at another, this emulation will not degenerate 
into envy. There is more danger that this hateful pas- 
sion should be created in the minds of young competi- 
tors at those games, where it is supposed that some 
knack or mystery is to be learned before they can be 
played with success. Whenever children play at such 
games, we should point out to them how and why it is 
that they succeed or fail ; we may show them, that in 
reality, there is no knack ov mystery in anything, but that 
from certain causes certain effects will follow ; that, 
after trying a number of experiments, the circumstances 
essential to success may be discovered ; and that all the 
ease and dexterity which we often attribute to the 
power of natural genius, is simply the consequence of 
practice and industry. This sober lesson may be taught 
to children without putting it into grave words or formal 
precepts. A gentleman once astonished a family of 
children by his dexterity in playing at bilboquet; he 
caught the ball nine or ten times successively with great 
rapidity upon the spike : this success appeared miracu- 
lous ; and the father, who observed that it had made a 
great impression upon the little spectators, took that 
opportunity to show the use of spinning the ball, to 
make the hole at the bottom ascend in a proper direc- 
tion. The nature of centrifugal motion, and its effect 
in preserving the parallelism of motion, if we may be al- 
lowed the expression, were explained, not at once, but at 
different intervals, to the young audience. Only as 
much was explained at a time as the children could un- 
derstand, without fatiguing their attention ; and the ab- 
struse subject was made famihar bythe mode of illustra- 
tion that was adopted. 



26 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

It is surprising how much children may learn from 
their playthings, when they are judiciously chosen, and 
when the habit of reflection and observation is asso- 
ciated with the ideas of amusement and happiness. A 
little boy of nine years old, who had had a hoop to play 
with, asked why a hoop, or a plate, if rolled upon its 
edge, keeps up as long as it rolls, but falls as soon as it 
stops, and will not stand if you try to make it stand still 
upon its edge 1 Was not the boy's understanding as 
well employed while he was thinking of this phenome- 
non, which he observed while he was beating his hoop, 
as it could possibly have been by the most learned pre- 
ceptor] 

When a pedantic schoolmaster sees a boy eagerly 
watching a paper kite, he observes, " What a pity it is 
that children cannot be made to mind their grammar as 
well as their kites !" And he adds, perhaps, some pee- 
vish ejaculation on the natural idleness of boys, and that 
pernicious love of play against which he is doomed to 
wage perpetual war. A man of sense will see the same 
thing with a different eye ; in this pernicious love of 
play he will discern the symptoms of a love of science, 
and, instead of deploring the natural idleness of children, 
he will admire the activity which they display in the 
pursuit of knowledge. He will feel that it is his busi- 
ness to direct this activity, to furnish his pupil with ma- 
terials for fresh combinations, to put him or to let him 
put himself, in situations where he can make useful ob- 
servations, and acquire that experience which cannot be 
bought, and which no masters can communicate. 

It will not be beneath the dignity of a philosophic tutor 
to consider the difl'erent effects which the most common 
plays of children have upon the habits of the understand- 
ing and temper. Whoever has watched children put- 
ting together a dissected map, must have been amused 
with the trial between Wit and Judgment. The child, 
who quickly perceives resemblances, catches instantly 
at the first bit of the wooden map that has a single hook 
or hollow that seems likely to answer his purpose; he 
makes, perhaps, twenty different trials before he hits 
upon the right ; while the wary youth, who has been 
accustomed to observe differences, cautiously examines 
with his eye the whole outline before his hand begins 
to move ; and, having exactly compared the two inden- 
tures, he joins them with sober confidence, more proud 



TOYS. 27 

of never disgracing his judgment by a fruitless attempt, 
than ambitious of rapid success. He is slow, but sure, 
and wins the day. 

There are some plays which require presence of mind, 
and which demand immediate attention to what is actu- 
ally going forward, in which children, capable of the 
greatest degree of abstract attention, are most apt to be 
defective. They have many ideas, but none of them 
ready ; and their knowledge is useless, because it is rec- 
ollected a moment too late. Could we, in suitably dig- 
nified language, describe the game of " birds, beasts, and 
fishes," we should venture to prescribe it as no very 
painful remedy for these absent and abstracted person-' 
ages. When the handkerchief or the ball is thrown, 
and when his bird's name is called for, the absent little 
philosopher is obliged to collect his scattered thoughts 
instantaneously, or else he exposes himself to the ridi- 
cule of naming, perhaps, a fish or a beast, or any bird 
but the right. To those children, who, on the contrary, 
are not sufficiently apt to abstract their attention, and 
who are what Bacon calls "bird wilted," we should rec- 
ommend a solitary-board. At the solitary-board, they 
must withdraw their thoughts from all external objects, 
hear nothing that is said, and fix their attention solely 
upon the figure and the pegs before them, else they will 
never succeed ; and, if they make one error in their cal- 
culations, they lose all their labour. Those who are 
precipitate, and not sufficiently attentive to the conse- 
quences of their own actions, may receive many salu- 
tary lessons at the draught or chess-board — happy, if 
they can learn prudence and foresight by frequently 
losing the battle. 

We are not quite so absurd as to imagine, that any 
great or permanent effects can be produced by such 
slight causes as a game at draughts, or at a solitary- 
board ; but the combination of a number of apparent tri- 
fles is not to be neglected in education. 

We have never yet mentioned what will probably first 
occur to those who would invent employments for chil- 
dren. We have never yet mentioned a garden; we 
have never mentioned those great delights to children, 
a spade, a hoe, a rake, and a wheelbarrow. We hold 
all these in proper respect ; but we did not sooner men- 
tion them, because, if introduced too early, they are 
useless. We must not expect that a boy six or seven 
B2 



28 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

years old, can find, for any length of time, sufiicient 
daily occupation in a garden : he has not strength for 
hard labour ; he can dig soft earth ; he can weed ground- 
sel, and other weeds, which take no deep root in the 
earth ; but after he has weeded his little garden, and 
sowed his seeds, there must be a suspension of his la- 
bours. Frequently children, for want of something to 
do, when they have sowed flower-seeds in their crooked 
beds, dig up the hopes of the year to make a new walk, 
or to sink a well in their garden. We mention these 
things, that parents may not be disappointed, or expect 
more from the occupation of a garden than it can, at a 
very early age, aff'ord. A garden is an excellent re- 
source for children, but they should have a variety of 
other occupations : rainy days will come, and frost and 
snow, and then children must be occupied within doors. 
We immediately think of a little set of carpenter's tools, 
to supply them with active amusement. Boys will prob- 
ably be more inclined to attempt making models than 
drawings, of the furniture which appears to be the most 
easy to imitate ; they will imagine that, if they had but 
tools, they could make boxes, and desks, and beds, and 
chests of drawers, and tables and chairs innumerable. 
But, alas ! these fond imaginations are too soon dissi- 
pated. Suppose a boy of seven years old to be provided 
with a small set of carpenters' tools ; his father thinks, 
perhaps, that he has made him completely happy; but 
a week afterward the father finds dreadful marks of the 
file and saw upon his mahogany tables : the use of these 
tools is immediately interdicted until a bench shall be 
procured. Week after week passes away, till at length 
the frequently reiterated speech of " Papa, you bid me 
put you in mind about my bench," has its effect, and the 
bench appears. Now the young carpenter thinks he is 
quite set up in the world, and projects carts and boxes, 
and reading-desks and writing-desks for himself and for 
his sisters, if he have any ; but when he comes to the 
execution of his plans, what new difficulties, what new 
M^ants arise— the wood is too thick or too thin ; it splits, 
or it cannot be cut with a knife ; wire, nails, glue, and 
above all, the means of heating the glue, are wanting. At 
last some frail machine, stuck together with pegs or pins, 
is produced, and the workman is usually either too. much 
ridiculed or too much admired. The step from pegging 
to mortising is a very difficult step, and the want of a 



TOYS. 29 

morlising-chisel is insuperable : one tool is called upon 
to do the duty of another, and the pricker comes to an 
untimely end in doing the hard duty of the punch ; the 
saw wants setting; the plane will plane no longer; and 
the mallet must be used instead of the hammer, because 
the hammer makes so much noise, that the ladies of the 
family have voted for its being locked up. To all these 
various evils the child submits in despair ; and finding, 
after many fruitless exertions, that he cannot make any 
of the fine things he had projected, he throws aside his 
tools, and is deterred by these disappointments from 
future industry and ingenuity. Such are the conse- 
quences of putting excellent tools into the hands of chil- 
dren before they can possibly use them : but the tools 
which are useless at seven years- old, will be a most 
valuable present at eleven or twelve, and for this age it 
will be prudent to reserve them. A rational toyshop 
should be provided with all manner of carpenters' tools, 
with wood properly prepared for the young workman, 
and with screws, nails, glue, emery-paper, and a variety 
of articles which it would be tedious to enumerate ; but 
which, if parents could readily meet with in a convenient 
assemblage, they would willingly purchase for their chil- 
dren. The trouble of hunting through a number of dif- 
ferent shops, prevents them at present from purchasing 
such things ; besides, they may not perhaps be sufii- 
ciently good carpenters to know distinctly every thing 
that is necessary for a young workman. 

Card, pasteboard, substantial but not sharp-pointed 
scissors, wire, gum and wax, may, in some degree, sup- 
ply the want of carpenters' tools at that early age when 
we have observed that the saw and plane are useless. 
Models of common furniture should be made as toys, 
which should take to pieces, so that all their parts, and 
the manner in which they are put together, might be 
seen distinctly ; the name of the different parts should 
be written* or stamped upon them : by these means the 
names will be associated with realities ; children will 
retain them in their memory, and they will neither learn 
by rote technical terms, nor will they be retarded in 
their progress in mechanical invention by the want of 
language. Before young people can use tools, these 
models will amuse and exercise their attention. From 

* We are indebted to Dr. Beddoes for this idea. 



30 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

models of furniture we may go on to models of arcliitec- 
ture ; pillars of different orders, the roofs of houses, the 
manner of slating and tiling, &c. Then we may proceed 
to models of machines, choosing at first such as can be 
immediately useful to children in their own amusements, 
such as wheelbarrows, carts, cranes, scales, steelyards, 
jacks, and pumps, which children ever view with eager 
eyes. 

From simple, it will be easy to proceed gradually to 
models of more complicated machinery : it would be 
tiresome to give a list of these ; models of instruments 
used by manufacturers and artists should be seen ; many 
of these are extremely ingenious ; spinning-wheels, 
looms, papermills, windmills, watermills, might with 
great advantage be shown in miniature to children. 

The distracting noise and bustle, the multitude of ob- 
jects which all claim the attention at once, prevent 
young people from understanding much of what they 
see, when they are first taken to look at large manufac- 
tories. If they had previously acquired some general 
idea of the whole, and someparticular knowledge of the 
different parts, they would not stare when they get into 
these places ; they would not " stare round, see nothing, 
and come home content," bewildered by the sight of 
cogs and wheels ; and the explanations of the workmen 
would not be all jargon to them ; they would understand 
some of the technical terms, which so much alarm the 
intellects of those who hear them for the first time. 

We may exercise the ingenuity and judgment of chil- 
dren by these models of machines, by showing them 
first the thing to be done, and exciting them to invent 
the best means of doing it ; afterward, give the models 
as the reward for their ingenuity, and let them compare 
their own inventions with the contrivances actually in 
use among artificers ; by these means, young people 
may be led to compare a variety of different contri- 
vances ; they will discern what parts of a machine are 
superfluous, and what inadequate, and they will class 
particular observations gradually under general princi- 
ples. It may be thought, that this will tend to give chil- 
dren only mechanical invention ; or we should call it, 
perhaps, the invention of machines : and those who do 
not require this particular talent, will despise it as un- 
necessary in what are called the liberal professions. 
Without attempting to compare the value of different 



TOYS. 31 

intellectual talents, we may observe, that they are all 
in some measure dependant upon each other. Upon 
this subject we shall enlarge more fully, when we come 
to consider the method of cultivating the memory and 
invention. 

Chymical toys will be more difficult to manage than 
mechanical, because the materials requisite to try many 
chymical experiments are such as cannot safely be put 
into the hands of children. But a list of experiments, 
and of the things necessary to try them, might easily 
be drawn out by a chymist who would condescend to 
such a task ; and if these materials, with proper direc- 
tions, were to be found at a rational toyshop, parents 
would not be afraid of burning or poisoning their chil- 
dren in the first chymical lessons. In some famiUes, 
girls are taught the confectionary art ; might not this be 
advantageously connected with some knowledge of 
chymistry, and might not they be better taught than by 
Mrs. Rafteld or Mrs. Glass 1* Every culinary operation 
may be performed as an art, probably, as well by a cook 
as by a chymist ; but, if the chymist did not assist the 
cook now and then with a little science, epicures would 
have great reason for lamentation. We do not, by any 
means, advise that girls should be instructed in confec- 
tionary arts, at the hazard of their keeping company 
with servants. If they learn any thing of this sort, there 
will be many precautions necessary to separate them 
from servants : we do not advise that these hazards 
should be run ; but if girls learn confectionary, let them 
learn the principles of chymistry, which may assist in 
this art.f 

Children are very fond of attempting experiments in 
dying, and are very curious about vegetable dies ; but 
they can seldom proceed for want of the means of boil- 
ing, evaporating, distilhng, and subliming. Small stills, 
and small tea-kettles and lamps, would be extremely 
useful to them : these might be used in the room with 
the children's parents, which would prevent all danger : 
they should continue to be the property of the parents, 
and should be produced only when they are wanted. No 
great apparatus is necessary for showing children the first 

* We do not mean to do injustice to Mrs. RafFeld's professional 
skill. 

t V. Diderot's ingenious preface to " Chymie de gout et da 
Todorat." 



82 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

simple operations in chymistry; such as evaporation, 
crystallization, calcination, detonation, effervescence, 
and saturation. Water and fire, salt and sugar, lime and 
vinegar, are not very difficult to be procured ; and a wine- 
glass is to be found in every house. The difference be- 
tween an acid and alkali should be early taught to chil- 
dren ; many grown people begin to learn chymistry, 
without distinctly knowing what is meant by those 
terms. 

In the selection of chymical experiments for young 
people, it will be best to avoid such as have the appear- 
ance of jugglers' tricks, as it is not our purpose to excite 
the amazement of children for the moment, but to give 
them a permanent taste for science. In a well-known 
book, called " Hooper's Rational Recreations,'''' there are 
many ingenious experiments ; but through the \vholc 
work there is such a want of an enlarged mind, and such 
a love of magic and deception appears, as must render 
it not only useless, but unsafe, for young people, in its 
present state. Perhaps a selection might be made from 
it in which these defects might be avoided : such titles 
as " The real apparition ; the confederate counters ; the 
Jive beatitudes; and the book of fate, '^ may be changed 
for others more rational. Receipts for " Changing ivinter 
into spring, ^^ for making " Self-raising pj/ramids, enchanted 
mirrors, and intelligent jlies,'" might be omitted, or ex- 
plained to advantage. Recreation the 5th, " To tell by 
the dial of a watch at what hour any person intends to 
rise ;" Recreation the 12th, " To produce the appear- 
ance of a phantom on a pedestal placed on the middle 
of a table ;" and Recreation the 30th, " To write several 
letters which contain no meaning, upon cards ; to make 
them, after they have been twice shuffled, give an answer 
to a question that shall be proposed ;" as, for example, 
*' What is love V scarcely come under the denomination 
of Rational Recreations, nor will they much conduce to 
the end proposed in the introduction to Hooper's work ; 
that is to say, in his own words, " To enlarge and for- 
tify the mind of man, that he may advance with tranquil 
steps through the flowery paths of investigation, till ar- 
riving at some noble eminence, he beholds, with awful 
astonishment, the boundless regions of science, and be- 
comes animated to attain a still more lofty station, while 
his heart is incessantly wrapped with joys of which the 
grovelling herd have no conception." 



TOYS. 33 

Even in those chymical experiments in this book, 
which are really ingenious and entertaining, we should 
avoid giving the old absurd titles, which can only con- 
fuse the understanding and spoil the taste of children. 
The tree of Diana, and " Philosophic wool," are of this 
species. It is not necessary to make every thing mar- 
vellous and magical to fix the attention of young peo- 
ple : if they are properly educated, they will find more 
amusement in discovering, or in searching for the cause 
of the effects which they see, than in a blind admiration 
of the juggler's tricks. 

In the papers of the Manchester Society, in Franklin's 
letters, in Priestley's and Percival's works, there may 
be found a variety of simple experiments which require 
no great apparatus, and which will at once amuse and 
instruct. All the papers of the Manchester Society, 
upon the repulsion and attraction of oil and water, are 
particularly suited to children, because they state a va- 
riety of simple facts ; the mind is led to reason upon 
them, and induced to judge of the diff"erent conclusions 
which are drawn from them by diff'erent people. The 
name of Dr. Percival or Dx. Wall will have no weight 
with children ; they will compare only the reasons and 
experiments. Oil and water, a cork, a needle, a plate, 
and a glass tumbler, are all the things necessary for these 
experiments. Mr. Henry's experiments upon the influ- 
ence that fixed air has on vegetation, and several of 
Reaumur's experiments, mentioned in the memoirs of the 
French Academy of Sciences, are calculated to please 
young people much, and can be repeated without ex- 
pense or difficulty. 

To those who acquire habits of observation, every 
thing that is to be seen or heard becomes a source of 
amusement. Natural history interests children at an 
early age ; but their curiosity and activity are often re-, 
pressed and restrained by the ignorance or indolence 
of their tutors. The most inquisitive genius grows tired 
of repeating, " Pray look at this — What is it ? What 
can the use of this bel" when the constant answer is, 
" Oh ! it's nothing worth looking at, throw it away, it 
will dirty the house." Those who have attended to the 
ways of children and parents well know that there are 
many little inconveniences attending their amusements, 
which the sublime eye of the theorist in education over- 
looks, which, nevertheless, are essenticfl to practical 
B3 



34 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

success. *' It will dirty the house," puts a stop to many 
of the operations of the young philosopher ; nor is it 
reasonable that his experiments should interfere with 
the necessary regularity of a well-ordered family. But 
most well-ordered families allow their horses and their 
dogs to have houses to themselves ; cannot one room be 
allotted to the children of the family 1 If they are to 
learn chymistry, mineralogy, botany, or mechanics ; if 
they are to take sufficient bodily exercise without tor- 
menting the whole family with noise, a room should be 
provided for them. We mention exercise and noise in 
particular, because we think they will, to many, appear 
of the most importance. 

To direct children in their choice of fossils, and to 
give them some idea of the general arrangements of 
mineralogy, toyshops should be provided with speci- 
mens of ores, &c. properly labelled and arranged in 
drawers, so that they may be kept in order. Children 
should have empty shelves in their cabinets, to be filled 
with their own collections ; they will then know how 
to direct their researches, and how to dispose of their 
treasures. If they have proper places to keep things 
in, they will acquire a taste for order by the best means, 
by feeling the use of it : to either sex, this taste will be 
highly advantageous. Children who are active and in- 
dustrious, and who have a taste for natural history, 
often collect, with much enthusiasm, a variety of peb- 
bles and common stones, which they value as great curi- 
osities, till some surly mineralogist happens to see 
them, and condemns them all with one supercilious 
" pshaw !" or else a journey is to be taken, and there is 
no way in making up the heterogeneous, cumbersome 
collection, which must, of course, be abandoned. Nay, 
if no journey is to be taken, a visiter, perhaps, comes 
unexpectedly ; the little naturalist's apartment must be 
vacated on a few minutes' notice, and the labour of years 
falls a sacrifice, in an instant, to the housemaid's undis- 
tinguishing broom. 

It may seem trifling to insist so much upon such slight 
things ; but, in fact, nothing can be done in education 
without attention to minute circumstances. Many who 
have genius to sketch large plans, have seldom patience 
to attend to the detail which is necessary for their ac- 
complishment. This is a useful, and, therefore, no hu- 
miliating drudgery. 



TOYS. 36 

With the little cabinets which we have mentioned, 
should be sold cheap microscopes, which will unfold a 
world of new delights to children ; and it is very prob- 
able that children will not only be entertained with look- 
ing at objects through a microscope, but they will con- 
sider the nature of the magnifying glass. They should 
not be rebuffed with the answer, " Oh, it's only a com- 
mon magnifying glass," hut they should be encouraged 
in their laudable curiosity ; they may easily be led to try 
slight experiments in optics, which will, at least, give 
the habits of observation and attention. In Dr. Priest- 
ley's History of Vision, many experiments may be 
found which are not above the comprehension of chil- 
dren of ten or eleven years old ; we do not imagine that 
any science can be taught by desultory experiments, but 
we think that a taste for science may early be given by 
making it entertaining, and by exciting young people to 
exercise their reasoning and inventive faculties upon 
every object which surrounds them. We may point out 
that great discoveries have often been made by attention 
to slight circumstances. The blowing of soap-bubbles, 
as it was first performed as a scientific experiment by 
the celebrated Dr. Hook, before the Royal Society, 
makes a conspicuous figure in Dr. Priestley's chapter on 
the reflection of light ; this may be read to children, and 
they will be pleased when they observe that what at 
first appeared only a trifling amusement, has occupied 
the understanding, and excited the admiration, of some 
great philosophers. 

Every child observes the colours which are to be seen 
in panes of glass windows ; in Priestley's History of 
Vision, there are some experiments of Hook's and Lord 
Brereton's upon these colours, which may be selected. 
Bufl'on's observations upon blue and green shadows are 
to be found in the same work, and they are very enter- 
taining. In Dr. Franklin's letters there are numerous 
experiments, which are particularly suited to young 
people ; especially, as in every instance he speaks with 
that candour and openness to conviction, and with that 
patient desire to discover truth, which we should wish 
our pupils to admire and imitate. 

The history of the experiments which have been tried 
in the progress of any science, and of the manner in 
which observations of minute facts have led to great 
discoveries, will be useful to the understanding, and will 



36 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

gradually make the mind expert in that mental algebra^ 
on which both reasoning and invention (which is, per- 
haps, only a more rapid species of reasoning) depend. 
In drawing out a list of experiments for children, it will, 
therefore, be advantageous to place them in that order 
which will best exhibit their relative connexion; and, 
instead of showing young people the steps of a dis- 
covery, we should frequently pause to try if they can in- 
vent. In this, our pupils will succeed often beyond our 
expectations ; and, whether it be in mechanics, chymis- 
try, geometry, or in the arts, the same course of educa- 
tion will be found to have the same advantages. When 
the powers of reason have been cultivated, and the in- 
ventive faculty exercised ; when general habits of vol- 
untary exertion and patient perseverance have been ac- 
quired, it will be easy, either for the pupil himself, or 
for his friends, to direct his abilities to whatever is ne- 
cessary for his happiness. We do not use the phrase, 
success in the xoorld, because, if it conveys any distinct 
ideas, it implies some which are, perhaps, inconsistent 
with real happiness. 

While our pupils occupy and amuse themselves with 
observation, experiment, and invention, we must take 
care that they have a sufficient variety of manual and 
bodily exercises. A turning-lathe and a work-bench 
will afford them constant active employment ; and when 
young people can invent, they feel great pleasure in the 
execution of their own plans. We do not speak from 
vague theory ; we have seen the daily pleasures of the 
work-bench, and the persevering eagerness with which 
young people work in wood, and brass, and iron, when 
tools are put into their hands at a proper age, and when 
their understanding has been previously taught the simple 
principles of mechanics. It is not to be expected that 
any exhortations we could use could prevail upon a 
father, who happens to have no taste for mechanics or 
for chymistry, to spend any of his time in his children's 
laboratory, or at their work-bench ; but in his choice of 
a tutor, he may perhaps supply his own defects ; and 
he will consider, that even by interesting himself in the 
daily occupations of his children, he will do more in the 
advancement of their education than can be done by 
paying money to a hundred masters. 

We do not mean to confine young people to the 
laboratory or the work-bench for exercise ; the more 



TOYS. 37 

varied exercise is, the better. Upon this subject we 
shall speak more fully hereafter : we have in general 
recommended all trials of address and dexterity, except 
games of chance, which we think should be avoided, a& 
they tend to give a taste for gambling ; a passion, which 
has been the ruin of so many young men of promising 
talents, of so many once happy families, that every 
parent will think it well worth his while to attend to 
the smallest circumstances in education, which can pre- 
vent its seizing hold of the minds of his children. 

In children, as in men, a taste for gaming arises from 
the want of better occupation, or of proper emotion to 
relieve them from the pains and penalties of idleness ; 
both the vain and indolent are prone to this taste, from 
different causes. The idea of personal merit is insensi- 
bly connected with what is called good liwk, and before 
avarice absorbs every other feeling, vanity forms no 
inconsiderable part of the charm which fixes such num- 
bers to the gaming-table. Indolent persons are fond of 
games of chance, because they feel themselves roused 
agreeably from their habitual state of apathy, or be- 
cause they perceive, that, at these contests, without 
any menial exertion, they are equal, perhaps superior, 
to their competitors. 

Happy they who have early been inspired with a 
taste for science and literature ! They will have a 
constant succession of agreeable ideas ; they will find 
endless variety in the commonest objects which sur- 
round them ; and feeling that every day of their lives 
they have sufficient amusement, they will require no 
extraordinary excitations, no holyday pleasures. They 
who have learned, from their own experience, a just con- 
fidence in their own powers ; they who have tasted the 
delights of well-earned praise, will not lightly trust to 
chance for the increase of self-approbation ; nor will 
those pursue, with too much eagerness, the precarious 
triumphs of fortune, who know, that in their usual pur- 
suits, it is in their own power to command success 
proportioned to their exertions. Perhaps it may be 
thought, that we should have deferred our eulogium 
upon literature till we came to speak of Tasks ; but if 
there usually appears but little connexion in a child's 
mind between l3ooks and toys, this must be attributed 
to his having had bad books and bad toys. In the 
hands of a judicious instructer, no means are too small 



3S PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

to be useful; every thing is made conducive to his 
purposes ; and instead of useless baubles, his pupils will 
be provided vi'ith playthings which may instruct, and 
with occupations which may at once amuse and improve 
the understanding. 

It would be superfluous to give a greater variety of 
instances of the sorts of amusements which are ad- 
vantageous ; we fear that we have already given too 
many, and that we have hazarded some observations, 
vi^hich will be thought too pompous for a chapter upon 
Toys. We intended to have added to this chapter an 
inventory of the present most fashionable articles in 
our toyshops, and a list of the new assort?ne?il. to speak 
in the true style of an advertisement ; but we are 
obliged to defer this for the present ; upon a future oc- 
casion we shall submit it to the judgment of the pub- 
lic. A revolution, even in toyshops, should not be at- 
tempted, unless there appear a moral certainty that we 
both may, and can, change for the better. The danger 
of doing too much in education is greater even than 
the danger of doing too little. As the merchants in 
France answered to Colbert, when he desired to know 
" how he could best assist them," children might, per- 
haps, reply to those who are most officious to amuse 
them; " Leave us to ourselves." 



CHAPTER II. 



" Why don't you get your task, instead of playing 
with your playthings from morning till night ? You are 
grown too old now to do nothing but play. It is high 
time you should learn to read and write, for you cannot 
be a child all your life, child ; so go and fetch your hook^ 
and learn your task."" 

This angry apostrophe is probably addressed to a 
child, at the moment when he is intent upon some 
agreeable occupation, which is now to be stigmatized 
with the name of Play. Why that word should all at 
once change its meaning; why that should now be a 



TASKS. 39 

crime, which was formerly a virtue ; why he, who had 
so often been desired to go and play, should now be 
reviled for his obedience, the young casuist is unable 
to discover. He hears that he is no longer a child : this 
he is willing to believe ; but the consequence is alarm- 
ing. Of the new duties incumbent upon his situation, 
he has yet but a confused idea. In his manly charac- 
ter, he is not yet thoroughly perfect : his pride would 
make him despise every thing that is childish, but no 
change has yet been wrought in the inward man, and 
his old tastes and new ambition are in direct opposition. 
Whether to learn to read be a dreadful thing or not, is 
a question he cannot immediately solve ; but if his 
reasoning faculty be suspended, there is yet a power 
secretly working within him, by which he will involunta- 
rily be governed. This power is the power of associa- 
tion : of its laws, he is, probably, not more ignorant 
than his tutor ; nor is he asvare that whatever word or 
idea comes into his mind with any species of pain, will 
return, whenever it is recalled to 'his memory, with the 
same feelings. The word Task, the first time he hears 
it, is an unmeaning word, but it ceases to be indifferent 
to him the moment he hears it pronounced in a terrible 
voice. " Learn your task," and " fetch your book," 
recur to his recollection with indistinct feelings of pain ; 
and hence, without further consideration, he will be dis- 
posed to dislike both books and tasks ; but his feelings 
are the last things to be considered upon this occasion; 
the immediate business is to teach him to read. A new 
era in his life now commences- The age of learning 
begins, and begins in sorrow. The consequences of a 
bad beginning are proverbially ominous ; but no omens 
can avert his fate, no omens can deter his tutor from 
the undertaking ; the appointed moment is come ; the 
boy is four years old, and he must learn to read. Some 
people, struck with a panic fear, lest their children 
should never learn to read and write, think tliat they 
cannot be in too great a hurry to teach them. SpeUing- 
books, grammars, dictionaries, rods and masters, are 
collected ; nothing is to be heard of in the house but 
tasks ; nothing is to be seen but tears. 

" No tears ! no tasks 1 no masters ! nothing upon com- 
pulsion !" say the opposite party in education. " Chil- 
dren must be left entirely at liberty ; they will learn 
every thing better than you can teach them ; their 



40 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

memory must not be overloaded with trash ; their reason 
must be left to grow." 

Their reason will never grow unless it be exercised, 
is the reply ; their memory must be stored while they 
are young, because, in youth, the memory is most tena- 
cious. If you leave them at liberty for ever, they will 
never learn to spell ; they will never learn Latin ; they 
will never learn Latin grammar ; yet, they must learn 
Latin grammar, and a number of other disagreeable 
things ; therefore, we must give them tasks and task- 
masters. 

In all these assertions, perhaps, we shall find a mix- 
ture of truth and error ; therefore, we had better be gov- 
erned by neither party, but listen to both, and examine 
arguments unawed by authority. And first, as to the 
panic fear, which, though no argument, is a most pow- 
erful motive. We see but few examples of children so 
extremely stupid as not to have been able to learn to 
read and write between the years of three and thirteen ; 
but we see many whose temper and whose understand- 
ing have been materially injured by premature or injudi- 
cious instruction ; we see many who are disgusted, per- 
haps irrecoverably, with literature, while they are flu- 
ently reading books which they cannot comprehend, or 
learning words by rote to which they affix no ideas. It 
is scarcely worth while to speak of the vain ambition 
of those who long only to have it said, that their chil- 
dren read sooner than those of their neighbours do ; for, 
supposing their utmost wish to be gratified, that their 
son could read before the age when children commonly 
articulate, still the triunvph must be of short duration, 
the fame confined to a small circle of " foes and friends," 
and, probably, in a few years, the memory of the phe- 
nomenon would remain only with his doting grand- 
mother. Surely, it is the use which children make of 
their acquirements which is of consequence, not the 
possessing them a few years sooner or later. A man 
who, during his whole life, could never write any thing 
that was worth reading, would find it but poor consola- 
tion for himself, his friends, or the public, to reflect, 
that he had been in joining-hand before he was five 
years old. 

As it is usually managed, it is a dreadful task indeed 
to learn, and, if possible, a more dreadful task to teach 
to read. With the help of coimters, and coaxing, and 



TASKS. 41 

gingerbread, or by dint of reiterated pain and terror, the 
names of the four-and-twenty letters of the alphabet 
are, perhaps, in the course of some weeks, firmly fixed 
in the pupil's memory. So much the worse ; all these 
names will disturb him, if he have common sense, and 
at every step must stop his progress. To begin with 
the vowels : each of these have several different sounds, 
and, consequently, ought to have several names, or dif- 
ferent signs, to distinguish them in different circum- 
stances. In the first lesson of the spelling-book, the 
child begins with a-b makes ab ; b-a makes ba. The 
inference, if any general inference can be drawn from 
this lesson, is, that when a comes before h, it has one 
sound, and after b, it has another sound ; but this is con- 
tradicted by-and-by, and it appears that a after b has 
various sounds, as in ball, in bat, in bare. The letter z in 
fire, is t, as we call it in the alphabet, but in fir it is 
changed ; in pin it is changed again ; so that the child, 
being ordered to affix to the same sign a variety of 
sounds and names, and not knowing in what circum- 
stances to obey and in what to disregard the contra- 
dictory injunctions imposed upon him, he pronounces 
sounds at hazard, and adheres positively to the last ruled 
case, or maintains an apparently sullen, or truly philo- 
sophic and skeptical silence. Must e in pen, and e in 
where, and e in verse, and e in fear, all be called e alike 1 
The child is patted on the head for reading u as it ought 
to be prononncfid in future ; but if, remembering this en- 
couragement, the pupil should venture to pronounce u 
in gun and bun, in the same manner, he will, inevitably, 
be disgraced. Pain and shame impress precepts upon 
the mind : the child, therefore, is intent upon remember- 
ing the new sound of u in bun ; but when he comes to 
busy, and burial, and prudence, his last precedent will 
lead him fatally astray, and he will again be called a 
dunce. O, in the exclamation Oh ! is happily called by 
its alphabetical name ; but in to, we can hardly know it 
again, and in morning and ivonder, it has a third and a 
fourth additional sound. The amphibious letter y, which 
is either a vowel or a consonant, has one sound in one 
character, and two sounds in the other ; as a consonant, 
it is pronounced as in yesterday ; in try, it is sounded as 
i ; in any, and in the termination of many other words, 
it is sounded like e. Must a child know all this by intui- 
tion, or must it be whipped into him 1 But he must know 



42 PRACTICAL EDUCATIOST. 

a great deal more before he can read the most common 
words. What length of time should we allow him for 
learning when c is to be sounded like k, and when like 
.f ? and how much longer time shall we add for learning 
when s shall be pronounced sh, as in sure, or z, as in 
has ; the sound of which last letter, c^, he cannot, by any 
conjuration, obtain from the name zed, the only name 
by which he has been taught to call it ? How much time 
shall we allow a patient tutor for teaching a docile pupil, 
when g is to be sounded soft and when hard \ There 
are many carefully worded rules in the spelling-books, 
specifying before what letters and in what situations 
g shall vary in sound ; but, unfortunately, these rules 
are difficult to be learned by heart, and still more diffi- 
cult to understand. These laws, however positive, are 
not found to be of universal application, or at least, a 
child has not always wit or time to apply them upon 
the spur of the occasion. In coming to the words inge- 
nious gentleman, get a good grammar, he may be puzzled 
by the nice distinctions he is to make in pronunciation 
in cases apparently similar ; but he has not yet become 
acquainted with all the powers of this privileged letter : 
in company with h, it assumes the character of/, as in 
tough; another time he meets it, perhaps, in the same 
company, in the same place, and, as nearly as possible, 
in the same circumstances, as in the word though ; but 
now g is to become a silent letter, and is to pass incog- 
nito, and the child will commit an unpardonable error 
if he claimed the incognito as liis late acquaintance /. 
.Still, all these are slight difficulties ; a moment's reflec- 
tion must convince us, that by teaching the common 
names of every consonant in the alphabet, we prepare a 
child for misery when he begins to spell or read. A 
consonant, as saith the spelling-book, is a letter which 
cannot be pronounced without a vowel before or after 
it : for this reason B is called be, and L, el ; but why the 
vowel should come first in one case, or last in the sec- 
ond, we are not informed ; nor are we told why the 
names of some letters have no resemblance whatever 
to their sounds, either with a vowel before or after 
them. Suppose, that after having learned the alphabet, 
a child was to read the words 

Here is some apple-pye. 
He would pronounce the letters thus : 

Acheare ies esoeme apepcelc peivie. 



TASKS. 43 

With this pronunciation the child would never decipher 
these simple words. It will be answered, perhaps, that 
no child is expected to read as soon as he has learned his 
alphabet : a long initiation of monosyllabic, dissyllabic, 
trissy liable, and polysyllabic words is previously to be 
subnjitted to ; nor, after this inauguration, are the nov- 
ices capable of performing with propriety the ceremony 
of reading whole words and sentences. By a different 
method of teaching, all this waste of labour and of time, 
all this confusion of rules and exceptions, and all the 
consequent confusion in the understanding of the pupil, 
may be avoided. 

In teaching a child to read, every letter should have a 
precise single sound annexed to its figure ; this should 
never vary. Where two consonants are joined together, 
so as to have but one sound, as ph, sh, &c., the two let- 
ters should be coupled together by a distinct, invariable 
mark. Letters that are silent should be marked in such 
a manner as to point out to the child that they are not 
to be sounded. Upon these simple rules our method of 
teaching to read has been founded. The signs or marks, 
by which these distinctions are to be effected, are arbi- 
trary, and may be varied as the teacher chooses ; the 
addition of a single point above or below the com- 
mon letters is employed to distinguish the different 
sounds that are given to the same letter, and a mark 
underneath such letters as are to be omitted, is the only 
apparatus necessary. These marks were employed by 
the author in 1776, before he had seen Sheridan's or any 
similar dictionary ; he has found that they do not con- 
fuse children as much as figures, because when dots are 
used to distinguish sounds, there is only a change of 
place, and no change of form ; but any person that 
chooses it may substitute figures instead of dots. It 
should, however, be remembered, that children must 
learn to distinguish the figures before they can be use- 
ful in discriminating the words. 

All these sounds, and each of the characters which 
denote them, should be distinctly known by a child be- 
fore we begin to teach him to read. And here at the 
first step we must entreat the teacher to have patience ; 
to fix firmly in her mind, we say her mind, because we 
address ourselves to mothers ; that it is immaterial 
whether a child learns this alphabet in six weeks or in six 
months ; at all events, let it not be inculcated with ro- 



44 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

straint, or made tiresome, lest it should retard the whole 
future progress of the pupil. We do not mean to rec- 
ommend the custom of teaching in play, but surely 
a cheerful countenance is not incompatible with appli- 
cation. 

The three sounds of the letter (a) should first be 
taught ; they may be learned by the dullest child in a 
week, if the letters are shown to him for a minute or 
two, twice a day. Proper moments should be chosen 
when the child is not intent upon any thing else ; when 
other children have appeared to be amused with read- 
ing ; when the pupil himself appears anxious to be in- 
structed. As soon as he is acquainted with the sounds 
of (a) and with their distinguishing marks, each of these 
sounds should be formed into syllables, with each of the 
consonants ; but we should never name the consonants 
by their usual names ; if it be required to point them 
out by sounds, let them resemble the real sounds or 
powers of the consonants ; but in fact, it will never be 
necessary to name the consonants separately, till their 
powers, in combination with the different vowels, be 
distinctly acquired. It will then be time enough to teach 
the common names of the letters. To a person un- 
acquainted with the principles upon which this mode of 
teaching is founded, it must appear strange, that a child 
should be able to read before he knows the names of 
his letters ; but it has been ascertained, that the names 
of the letters are an encumbrance in teaching a child to 
read. 

In the quotation from Mrs. Barbauld, at the bottom 
of the alphabetical tables, there is a stroke between the 
letters Z» and r in February, and between t and h in there, 
to show that these letters are to be sounded together, 
so as to make one sound. The same is to be observed 
as to {ng) in the word long, and also as to the syllable 
ing, which, in the table No. 4, column 4, is directed to 
be taught as one sound. The mark ( . ) of obliteration, 
is put under (y) in the word days, under e final in there, 
and also under one of the Z's and the {w) in yellow, to 
show that these letters are not to be pronounced. The 
exceptions to this scheme of articulation are very few; 
such as occur are marked, with the number employed 
in Walker's dictionary, to denote the exception ; to 
which excellent work the teacher will, of course, 
refer. 



f 


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TASKS. 45 

Parents, at the first sight of this new alphabet, will 
perhaps tremble lest they should be obliged to learn the 
whole of it before they begin to teach their children ; 
but they may calm their apprehensions, for they need 
only point out the letters in succession to the child, and 
sound them as they are sounded in the words annexed 
to the letters in the table, and the child will soon, by 
repetition, render the marks of the respective letters 
familiar to the teacher. We have never found anybody 
complain of difficulty who has gone on from letter to 
letter along with the child who was taught. 

As soon as our pupil knows the different sounds of (a) 
combined in succession with all the consonants, we may 
teach him the rest of the vowels joined with all the 
consonants, which will be a short and easy work. Our 
readers need not be alarmed at the apparent slowness 
of this method : six months, at the rate of four or five 
minutes each day, will render all these combinations 
perfectly farniliar. One of Mrs. Barbauld's lessons for 
young children, carefully marked in the same manner 
as the alphabet, should, when they are well acquainted 
with the sounds of each of the vowels wuth each of the 
consonants, be put into our pupil's hands.* 

The sound of three or four letters together will im- 
mediately become familiar to him ; and when any of trffe 
less common sounds of the vowels, such as are con- 
tained in the second table, and the terminating sounds, 
tion, Zy, «fec. occur, they should be read to the child, and 
should be added to what he has got by rote from time 
to time. When all these marks and their correspond- 
ing sounds are learned, the primer should be abandoned ; 
and from that time the child will be able to read slowly 
the most difficult words in the language. We must ob- 
serve, that the mark of obliteration is of the greatest 
service ; it is a clew to the whole labyrinth of intricate 
and uncouth orthography. The word though, by the 
obliteration of three letters, may be as easily read as 
the or that. 

It should be observed that all people, before they can 
read fluently, have acquired a knowledge of the general 
appearance of most of the words in the language, in- 
dependently of the syllables of which they are com- 

* Some of these lessons, and others by the authors, will shortly be 
printed, and marked according to this method. 



46 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

posed. Seven children in the author's family were 
taught to read in this manner, and three in the coumion 
method ; the difference of time, labour, and sorrow, be- 
tween the two modes of learning-, appeared so clearly, 
that we can speak with confidence upon the subject. 
We think that nine tenths of the labour and disgust 
of learning to read, may be saved by this method; 
and that, instead of frowns and tears, the usual har- 
bingers of learning, cheerfulness and smiles may initiate 
willing pupils in the most difficult of all human attain- 
ments. 

A. and H., at four and five years old, after they had 
learned the alphabet, without having ever combined the 
letters into syllables, were set to read one of Mrs. Bar- 
bauld's little books. After being employed two or three 
minutes every day, for a fortnight, in making out the 
words of this book, a paper, with a few raisins well con- 
cealed in its folds, was given to each of them, with 
these words printed on the outside of it, marked ac- 
cording to our alphabet : 

" Open this, and eat what you find in it." 

In twenty minutes they read it distinctly, without any 
assistance. 

The step from reading with these marks to reading 
without them, will be found very easy. Nothing more 
is necessary than to give children the same books, 
without marks, which they can read fluently with them. 

Spelling comes next to reading. New trials for the 
temper ; new perils for the understanding ; positive 
rules and arbitrary exceptions ; endless examples and 
contradictions ; till at length, out of all patience with 
the stupid docility of his pupil, the tutor perceives the 
absolute necessity of making him get by heart, with all 
convenient speed, every word in the language. The 
formidable columns in dread succession arise, a host of 
foes ; two columns a day, at least, may he conquered. 
Months and years are devoted to the undertaking ; but 
after going through a whole spelling-book, perhaps a 
whole dictionary, till we come triumphantly to spell 
Zeugma, we have forgotten to spell Abbot, and we must 
begin again with Abasement. Merely the learning to 
spell so many unconnected words, without any assist- 
ance from reason or analogy, is nothing, compared 
with the difficulty of learning the explanation of them 
by rote, and the still greater difficulty of understanding 



TASKS. 47 

the meaning of the explanation. When a child has 
got by rote, 

" Midnight, the depth of night ;" 

" Metaphysics, the science which treats of immaterial 
beings, and of forms in general abstracted from 
matter ;" 
has he acquired any distinct ideas, either of midnight 
or of metaphysics "? If a boy had eaten rice pudding, 
till he fancied himself tolerably well acquainted with rice, 
would he find his knowledge much improved, by learn- 
ing from his spelling-book, the words — 

" Rice, a foreign, esculent grain ]" 
Yet we are surprised to discover, that men have so few 
accurate ideas, and that so many learned disputes ori- 
ginate in a confused or improper use of words. 

" All this is very true," says a candid schoolmaster ; 
" we see the evil, but we cannot new-model the lan- 
guage, or write a perfect philosophical dictionary ; and, 
in the meantime, we are bound to teach children to 
spell, which we do with the less reluctance, because, 
though we allow that it is an arduous task, we have 
found from experience that it can be accomplished, 
and that the understandings of many of our pupils sur- 
vive all the perils to which you think them exposed 
during the operation. 

The understandings may, and do survive the opera- 
tion ; but why should they be put in unnecessary dan- 
ger ] and why should we early disgust children with 
literature, by the pain and difficulty of their first lessons ? 
We are convinced, that the business of learning to 
spell is made much more laborious to children than it 
need to be: it may be useful to give them five or six 
words every day to learn by heart, but more only loads 
their memory ; and we should at first select words of 
which they know the meaning, and which occur most 
frequently in reading, or conversation. The alphabeti- 
cal list of words in a spelling-book contains many which 
are not in common use, and the pupil forgets these as 
fast as he learns them. We have found it entertain- 
ing to children, to ask them to spell any short sen- 
tence as it has been accidentally spoken. " Put this 
book on that table." Ask a child how he would spell 
these words, if he were obliged to write them down ; 
and you introduce into his mind the idea that he must 
learn to spell before he can make his words and 



48 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

thoughts understood in writing. It is a good way to 
make children write down a few words of their own 
selection every day, and correct the spelling ; and also 
after they have been reading, while the words are yet 
fresh in their memory, we may ask them to spell some 
of the words which they have just seen. By these 
means, and by repeating, at different times in the day, 
those words which are most frequently wanted, his vo- 
cabulary will be pretty well stocked without its having 
cost him any tears. We should observe that children 
learn to spell more by the eye than by the ear, and that the 
more they read and write, the more likely they will be 
to remember the combination of letters in words which 
they have continually before their eyes, or which they 
feel it necessary to represent to others. When young 
people begin to write, they first feel the use of spelling ; 
and it is then that they will learn it with most ease and 
precision. Then the greatest care should be taken to 
look over their writing, and to make them correct every 
word in which they have made a mistake ; because bad 
habits of spelling, once contracted, can scarcely be 
cured : the understanding has nothing to do with the 
business ; and when the memory is puzzled between the 
rules of spelling right, and the habits of spelling wrong, 
it becomes a misfortune to the pupil to write even a 
common letter. The shame which is annexed to bad 
spelling excites young people's attention, as soon as 
they are able to understand that it is considered as a 
mark of ignorance and ill-breeding. We have often 
observed, that children hsten with anxiety to the re- 
marks that are made upon this subject in their presence, 
especially when the letters or notes of grown up people 
are criticised. 

Some time ago, a lady, who was reading a newspaper, 
met with the story of an ignorant magistrate, who gave 
for his toast, at a public dinner, the two K's, for the King 
and Constitution. " How very much asliamed the man 
must have felt, when all the people laughed at him for 
his mistake ! they must have all seen that he did not 
know how to spell ; and what a disgrace for a magis- 
trate too !" said a boy who heard the anecdote. It made 
a serious impression upon him. A few months after- 
ward he was employed by his father in an occupation 
which was extremely agreeable to him, but in which he 
continually felt the necessity of spelling correctly. He 



TASKS. 49 

was employed to send ii^essages by a telegraph ; these 
messages he was obliged to write down hastily, in little 
journals kept for the purpose ; and as these were seen 
by several people, when the business of the day came to 
be reviewed, the boy had a considerable motive for or- 
thographical exactness. He became extremely desirous 
to teach himself, and consequently his success was from 
that moment certain. As to the rest, we refer to Lady 
Carlisle's comprehensive maxim, "Spell well if you 
can." 

It is undoubtedly of consequence to teach the rudi- 
ments of literary education early, to get over the first 
difficulties of reading, writing, and spelling ; but much 
of the anxiety, and bustle, and labour of teaching these 
things, may be advantageously spared. If more atten- 
tion were turned to the general cultivation of the under- 
standing, and if more pains were taken to make litera- 
ture agreeable to children, there would be found less 
difficulty to excite them to mental exertion, or to induce 
the habits of persevering application. 

When we speak of rendering hterature agreeable to 
children, and of the danger of associating pains with the 
sight of a book, or with the sound of the word task, we 
should at the same time avoid the error of those who, in 
their first lessons, accustom their pupils to so much amuse- 
ment, that they cannot help afterward feeling disgusted 
with the sobriety of instruction. It has been the fashion 
of late to attempt teaching every thing to children in 
play ; and ingenious people have contrived to insinuate 
much useful knowledge without betraying the design to 
instruct ; but this system cannot be pursued beyond cer- 
tain bounds without many inconveniences. The habit 
of being amused not only increases the desire for amuse- 
ment, but it lessens even the relish for pleasure ; so that 
the mind becomes passive and indolent, and a course 
of perpetually increasing stimulus is necessary to awaken 
attention. When dissipated habits are acquired, the 
pupil loses power over his own mind ; and, instead of 
vigorous voluntary exertion, which he should be able to 
command, he shows that wayward imbecility which can 
think successfully only by fits and starts : this paralytic 
state of mind has been found to be one of the greatest 
calamities attendant on what is called genius ; and inju- 
dicious education creates or increases this disease. Let 
us not, therefore, humour children in this capricious 
O 



60 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

temper, especially if they have quick abiUties ; let us 
give rewards proportioned to their exertions with uni- 
form justice, but let us not grant bounties in education, 
which, however they may appear to succeed in effect- 
ing partial and temporary purposes, are not calculated 
to ensure any consequences permanently beneficial. 
The truth is, tliat useful knowledge cannot be obtained 
without labour ; that attention long continued is labori- 
ous, but that without this labour nothing excellent can 
be accomplished. Excite a child to attend in earnest 
for a short time, his mind will be less fatigued, and his 
understanding more improved, than if he had exerted 
but half the energy twice as long : the degree of pain 
which he may have felt will be amply and properly com- 
pensated by his success ; this will not be an arbitrary, 
variable reward, but one within his own power, and that 
can be ascertained by his own feelings. Here is no de- 
ceit practised, no illusion ; the same course of conduct 
may be regularly pursued through the whole of his edu- 
cation, and his confidence in his tutor will progressively 
increase. On the contrary, if, to entice him to enter 
the paths of knowledge, we strew them with liowers, 
how will he feel when he must force his way through 
thorns and briers ! 

There is a material difference between teaching chil- 
dren in play, and making learning a task ; in the one case 
we associate factitious pleasure, in the other factitious 
pain, with the object : both produce pernicious eflfects 
upon the temper, and retard the natural progress of the 
understanding. The advocates in favour of " scholastic 
badinage" have urged that it excites an interest in the 
minds of children similar to that which makes them en- 
dure a considerable degree of labour in the pursuit of 
their amusements. Children, it is said, work hard at 
play, therefore we should let them play at work. Would 
not this produce effects the very reverse of what we 
desire 1 'I'he whole question must at last depend upon 
the meaning of the word play : if by play be meant every 
thing that is not usually called a task, then undoubtedly 
much may be learned at play : if, on the contrary, we 
mean by the expression to describe that state of fidget- 
ing idleness, or of boisterous activity, in which the in- 
tellectual powers are torpid, or stunned with unmeaning 
noise, the assertion contradicts itself. At play so de- 
fined, children can learn nothing but bodily activity ; it 



TASKS. 51 

IS certainly true, that when children are interested about 
any thing, whether it be about what we call a trifle, or 
a matter of consequence, they will exert themselves in 
order to succeed ; but from the moment the attention 
is fixed, no matter on what, children are no longer at 
idle play, they are at active work. 

S , a little boy of nine years old, was standing 

without any book in his hand, and seemingly idle ; he 
was amusing himself with looking at what he called 3 

rainbow upon the floor ; he begged his sister M U 

look at it ; then he said he wondered what could makt? 
it; how it came there. The sun shone bright througli 
the window ; the boy moved several things in the room, 
so as to place them sometimes between the light and the 
colours which he saw upon the floor, and sometimes in a 
corner of the room where the sun did not shine. As he 
moved the things, he said, " This is not it" — " nor this" 
— " this hasn't any thing to do with it." At last he 
found, that when he moved a tumbler of water out of the 
place where it stood, his rainbow vanished. Some vio- 
lets were in the tumbler ; S thought they might be 

the cause of the colours which he saw upon the floor, 
or, as he expressed it, " Perhaps these may be the thing." 
He took the violets out of the water ; the colours re- 
mained upon the floor. He then thought that " it 
might be the water." He emptied the glass ; the colours 

remained, but they were fainter. S immediatel}'^ 

observed that it was the water and glass together that 
made the rainbow. " But," said he, " there is no glass in 
the sky, yet there is a rainbow, so that I think the water 
alone would do, if we could but hold it together without 
the glass. Oh, 1 know how 1 can manage." He poured 
the water slowly out of the tumbler into a basin, which 
he placed where the sun shone, and be saw the colours 
on the floor twinkling behind the water as it fell : this 
delighted him much ; but he asked why it would not do 
when the sun did not shine. The sun went behind a 
cloud while he was trying his experiments : " There 
was light," said he, " though there was no sunshine." 
He then said he thought that the diflerent thickness of 
the glass was the cause of the variety of colours : after- 
ward he said he thought that the clearness or muddiness 
of the difl'erent drops of water was the cause of the dif- 
ferent colours. 

A ri2:id prfceptor, who thinks that everv boy must be 
C2 



62 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

idle who has not a Latin book constantly in his hand, 

would perhaps have reprimanded S for wasting his 

time at play, and would have summoned him from his 
rainbow to his task; but it is very obvious to any person 
free from prejudices, that this child was not idle while 
he was meditating upon the rainbow on the floor ; his 
attention was fixed ; he was reasoning ; he was trying 
experiments. We may call this play if we please, and 
we may say that Descartes was at play when he first 
verified Antonio de Dominis, Bishop of Spalatro's, trea- 
tise of the rainbow, by an experiment with a glass 
globe :* and we may say that Buffon was idle, when his 
pleased attention was first caught with a landscape of 
green shadows, when one evening at sunset he first ob- 
served that the shadows of trees, which fell upon a white 
wall, were green. He was first delighted with the ex- 
act representation of a green arbour, which seemed as 
if it had been newly painted on the wall. Certainly 
the boy with his rainbow on the floor was as much 
amused as the philosopher with his coloured shadows ; 
and, however high-sounding the name of Antonio de 
Dominis, Bishop of Spalatro, it does not alter the busi- 
ness in the least; he could have exerted only his utmost 
attention upon the theory of the rainbow, and the child 
did the same. We do not mean to compare the powers 
of reasoning, or the abilities of the child and the philoso- 
pher ; we would only show that the same species of at- 
tention was exerted by both. 

To fix the attention of children, or, in other words, to 
interest them about those subjects to which we wish 
them to apply, must be our first object in the early cul- 
tivation of the understanding. This we shall not find a 
diflicult undertaking if we have no false associations, no 
painful recollections to contend with. We can connect 
any species of knowledge with those occupations which 
are immediately agreeable to young people ; for instance, 
if a child is building a house, we may take that oppor- 
tunity to teach him how bricks are made, how the arches 
over doors and windows are made, the nature of the key- 
stone and hutments of an arch, the manner in which all 
the diff'erent parts of the roof of a house are put to- 
gether, &c. ; while he is learning all this he is eagerly 
and seriously attentive, and we educate his understand- 

* See Priestley's History of Vision, vol. i. p. 51. 



TASKS. 63 

ing in the best possible method. But if, mistaking the 
apphcation of the principle, that literature should be 
made agreeable to children, we should entice a child to 
learn his letters by a promise of a gilt coach, or by tel- 
ling him that he would be the cleverest boy in the world 
if he could but learn the letter A, we use false and fool- 
ish motives ; we may possibly, by such means, effect 
the immediate purpose, but we shall assuredly have 
reason to repent of such imprudent deceit. If the child 
reasons at all, he will be content after his first lesson 
with being " the cleverest boy in the world," and he 
will not, on a future occasion, hazard his fame, having 
much to lose, and nothing to gain ; besides, he is now 
master of a gilt coach, and some new and larger re- 
ward must be proffered to excite his industry. Be- 
sides the disadvantage of early exhausting our stock of 
incitements, it is dangerous in teaching to humour pu- 
pils with a variety of objects by way of relieving their 
attention. The pleasure of tJmiking, and much of the 
profit, must frequently depend upon preserving the 
greatest possible connexion between our ideas. Those 
who allow themselves to start from one object to another, 
acquire such dissipated habits of mind, that they can- 
not, without extreme difficulty and reluctance, follow 
any connected train of thought. You cannot teach 
those who will not follow the chain of your reasons ; 
upon the connexion of our ideas, useful memory and 
reasoning must depend. We will give you an instance : 
arithmetic is one of the first things that we attempt to 
teach children. In the following dialogue, which passed 
between a boy of five years old and his father, we may 
observe that, till the child followed his father's train of 
ideas, he could not be taught. 

Father. S , how many can you take from one ? 

None. 

None ! Think ; can you take nothing from 




None, except that one. 

Except ! Then you can take one from one % 

Yes, that one. 
Father. How many, then, can you take from one ? 

,S. . One. 

Father. Very true ; but now, can you take two from 
one? 

5 . Yes, if they were figures I could with a rub- 



54 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ber-Qut. (This child had frequently sums written for 
him with a black lead pencil, and he used to rub out his 
figures when they were wrong with India-rubber, which 
he had heard called rubber-out.) 

Father. Yes, you could ; but now we will not talk of 
figures, we will talk of things. There may be one horse 
or two horses, or one man or two men. 

5. . Yes, or one coat or two coats. 

Father. Yes, or one thing or two things, no matter 
what they are. Now, could you take two things from 
one thing 1 

S . Yes, if there were three things I could take 

away two things, and leave one. 

His father took up a cake from the tea-table. 

Father. Could I take two cakes from this one cake ? 

)S . You could tal^^e two pieces. 

His father divided the cake into halves, and held up 
each half, so that the child might distinctly see them. 

Father. What would you call these two pieces ! 

>S . Two cakes. 

Father. No, not two cakes. 

jS . Two biscuits. 

Father. (Holding up a whole biscuit :) What is this T 

>S . A thing to eat. 

Father. Yes, but what would you call it I 

<S . A biscuit. 

His father broke it into halves, and showed one half. 

Father. What would you call this I 

iS was silent, and his sister was applied to, who 

answered, " Half a biscuit." 

Father. Very well ; that's all at present. 

The father prudently stopped here, that he might not 
confuse his pupil's understanding. Those only who 
have attempted to teach children can conceive how ex- 
tremely difficult it is to fix their attention, or to make 
them seize the connexion of ideas, which it appears to 
us almost impossible to miss. Children are well occu- 
pied in examining external objects, but they must also 
attend to words as well as things. One of the great 
difficulties in early instruction arises from the want of 
words: the pupil very often has acquired the necessary 
ideas, but they are not associated in his mind with the 
words which his tutor uses ; these words are then to 
him mere sounds, which suggest no correspondent 



TASKS. 65 

thoughts. Words, as M. CondjUac well observes,* are 
essential to our acquisition of knowledge ; they are the 
medium through which one set of beings can convey 
the result of their experiments and observations to 
another ; they are, in all mental processes, the algebraic 
signs which assist us in solving the most difficult prob- 
lems. What agony does a foreigner, knowing himself 
to be a man of sense, appear to suffer, when, for want 
of language, he cannot in conversation communicate 
his knowledge, explain his reasons, enforce his argu- 
ments, or make his wit intelligible 1 In vain he has re- 
course to the language of action. The language of ac- 
tion, or, as Bacon calls it, of "transitory hieroglyphic," 
is expressive, but inadequate. As new ideas are col- 
lected in the mind, new signs are Wcinted ; and the prog- 
ress of the understanding would be early and fatally 
impeded by the want of language. M. de la Condamine 
tells us that there is a nation who have no sign to express 
the number three but this word, poellartarrorincourac. 
These people having begun, as Condillac observes, in such 
an incommodious manner, it is not surprising that they 
have not advanced further in their knowledge of arith- 
metic : they have got no further than the number 
three ; their knowledge of arithmetic stops for ever at 
poellartarrorincourac. But even this cumbersome sign is 
better than none. Those who have the misfortune to 
be born deaf and dumb, continue for ever in intellectual 
imbecility. There is an account in the Memoires de 
I'Academie Royale, p. xxii — xxiii, 1703, of a young man 
born deaf and dumb,t who recovered his hearing at the 
age of four-and-twenty, and who, after employing him- 
self in repeating low to himself the words which he 
heard others pronounce, at length broke silence in com- 
pany, and declared that he could talk. His conversation 
was but imperfect; he was examined by several able 
theologians, who chiefly questioned him on his ideas of 
God, the soul, and the morality or immorality of actions. 
It appeared that he had not thought upon any of these 
subjects; he did not distinctly know what was meant 
by death, and he never thought of it. He seemed to 
pass a merely animal life, occupied with sensible, present 

* "Art.de Penser." 

t See Condillac's Art de Penser. la the chapter " on the use of 
signs," this young man is mentioned. 



56 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

objects, and with a few ideas which he received by hfs 
sense of sight ; nor did he seem to have gained as much 
knowledge as he might have done, by the comparison 
of these ideas ; yet it is said that he did not appear 
naturally deficient in understanding. 

Peter, the wild boy, who is mentioned in Lord Mon- 
boddo's Origin of Language,* had all his senses in re- 
markable perfection. He lived at a farmhouse within 
half a mile of us in Hertfordshire for some years, and 
we had frequent opportunities of trying experiments 
upon him. He could articulate imperfectly a few words, 
in particular, King George, which words he always ac- 
companied with an imitation of the bells, which rang at 
the coronation of George the Second ; he could in a 
manner imitate two or three common tunes, but without 
words. Though his head, as Mr. Wedgewood and 
many others had remarked, resembled that of Socrates, 
he was an idiot : he had acquired a few automatic habits 
of rationality and industry, but he could never be made 
to work at any continued occupation : he would shut 
the door of the farmyard fi.ve hundred times a day, bat 
he would not reap or make hay. Drawing water from 
a neighbouring river was the only domestic business 
which he regularly pursued. In 1779 we visited him, 
and tried the following experiment. He was attended 
to the river by a person who emptied his buckets re- 
peatedly, after Peter had repeatedly filled them. A shil- 
ling was put before his face into one of the buckets 
when it was empty ; he took no notice of it, but filled it 
with water and carried it homeward : his buckets were 
taken from him before he reached the house and emptied 
on the ground ; the shilling, which had fallen out, was 
again shown to him, and put into the bucket. Peter re- 
turned to the river again, filled his bucket, and went 
home ; and when the bucket was emptied by the maid 
at the house where he Hved, he took the shilling and 
laid it in a place where he was accustomed to deposite 
the presents that were made to him by curious strangers, 
and whence the farmer's wife collected the price of his 
daily exhibition. It appeared that this savage could not 
be taught to reason for want of language. 

Rousseau declaims with eloquence, and often with 
justice, against what he calls a knowledge of words., 

* vom. 



TASKS. 57 

Words without correspondent ideas are worse than 
useless ; they are counterfeit coin, which imposes upon 
the ignorant and unwary : but words which really rep- 
resent ideas, are not only of current use, but of ster- 
ling value ; they not only show our present store, but 
they increase our wealth, by keeping it in continual cir- 
culation ; both the principal and the interest increase 
together. The importance of signs and words in our 
reasonings, has been eloquently explained since the 
time of Condillac, by Stewart. We must use the ideas 
of these excellent writers, because they are just and 
applicable to the art of education ; but while we use, 
it is with proper acknowledgments that we borrow, 
what we shall never be able to return. 

It is a nice and difficult thing in education, to pro- 
portion a child's vocabulary exactly to his knowledge, 
dispositions, or conformation ; our management must 
vary ; some will acquire words too quickly, others too 
slowly. A child who has great facility in pronouncing 
sounds, will, for that reason, quickly acquire a number 
of words ; while those whose organs of speech are not 
so happily formed, will, from that cause alone, be ready 
in forming a copious vocabulary. Children who have 
many companions, or who live with people who con- 
verse a great deal, have more motive, both from sym- 
pathy and emulation, to acquire a variety of words, than 
those who live with silent people, and who have few 
companions of their own age. All these circumstances 
should be considered by parents, before they form their 
judgment of a child's capacity from his volubility or his 
taciturnity. Volubility can easily be checked by simply 
ceasing to attend to it, and taciturnity may be van- 
quished by the encouragements of praise and affection ; 
we should neither be alarmed at one disposition nor at 
the other, but steadily pursue the system of conduct 
which will be most advantageous to both. When a 
prattling, vivacious child pours forth a multiplicity of 
words without understanding their meaning, we may 
sometimes beg to have an explanation of a few of them, 
and the child will then be obliged to think, which will 
prevent him from talking nonsense another time. When 
a thoughtful boy, who is in the habit of observing every 
object he sees, is at a loss for words to express his ideas, 
his countenance usually sliows, to those who can read 
the countenance of children, that he is not stupid ^ 
e 3 



58 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

therefore, we need not urge him to talk, but assist him 
judiciously with words " in his utmost need :" at the 
same time we should observe carefully, whether he 
grows lazy when we assist him ; if his stock of words 
does not increase in proportion to the assistance we 
give, we should then stimulate him to exertion, or else 
he will become habitually indolent in expressing his 
ideas ; though he may think in a language of his own, 
he will not be able to understand our language when 
we attempt to teach him : this would be a source of 
daily misery to both parties. 

When children begin to read, they seem suddenly to 
acquire a great variety of words : we should carefully 
examine whether they annex the proper meaning to 
these which are so rapidly collected. Instead of giving 
them lessons and tasks to get by rote, we should cau- 
tiously watch over every new phrase and every new 
word which they learn from books. There are but few 
books so written that young children can comprehend 
a single sentence in them without much explanation. 
It is tiresome to those who hear them read to explain 
every word ; it is not only tiresome, but difficult ; be- 
sides, the progress of the pupil seems to be retarded ; 
the grand business of reading, of getting through the 
book, is impeded ; and the tutor, more impatient than 
his pupil, says, " Read on ; I cannot stop to explain 
that to you now. You will understand the meaning of 
the sentence if you will read to the end of the page. 
You have not read three lines this half hour ; we shall 
never get on at this rate." 

A certain dame at a country school, who had never 
been able to compass the word Nebuchadnezzar, used 
to desire her pupils to " call it Nazareth, and let it 
pass." 

If they be obliged to pass over words without com- 
prehending them in books, they will probably do the 
same in conversation ; and the difficulty of teaching 
such pupils, and of understanding what they say, will 
be equally increased. At the hazard of being tedious, 
we must dwell a little longer upon this subject, because 
much of the future capacity of children seems to de- 
pend upon the manner in which they first acquire lan- 
guage. If their language be confused, so will be their 
thoughts ; and they will not be able to reason, to invent, 
or to write, with more precision and accuracy than they 



TASKS. 59 

speak. The first words that children learn are the 
names of things: these are easily associated with the. 
objects themselves, and there is little danger of mistake 
or confusion. We will not enter into the grammatical 
dispute concerning the right of precedency, among pro- 
nouns, substantives, and verbs ; we do not know which 
came first into the mind of man ; perhaps, in different 
minds, and in different circumstances, the precedency 
must have varied ; but this seems to be of little conse- 
quence ; children see actions performed, and they act 
themselves : when they want to express their remem- 
brance of these actions, they make use of the sort of 
words which we call verbs. Let these words be strictly 
associated with the ideas which they mean to express, 
and no matter whether children know any thing about 
the disputes of grammarians, they will understand 
rational grammar in due time, simply by reflecting 
upon their own minds. This we shall explain more 
fully when we speak hereafter of grammar ; we just 
mention the subject here, to warn preceptors against 
puzzling their pupils too early with grammatical subt- 
leties. 

If any person unused to mechanics were to read Dr. 
Desagulier's description of the manner in which a man 
walks, the number of a-b-c's, and the travels of the 
centre of gravity, it would so amaze and confound him, 
that he would scarcely believe he could ever again per- 
form such a tremendous operation as that of walking. 
Children, if they were early to hear grammarians talk 
of the parts of speech, and of syntax, would conclude, 
that to speak must be one of the most difficult arts in 
the world ; but children, who are not usually so unfor- 
tunate as to have grammarians for their preceptors, 
when they first begin to speak, acquire language, with- 
out being aware of the difficulties which would appear 
so formidable in theory. A child points to, or touches 
the table, and when the word table is repeated, at the 
same instant he learns the name of the thing. The 
facility with which a number of names are thus learned 
in infancy is surprising ; but we must not imagine that 
the child, in learning these names, has acquired much 
knowledge ; he has prepared himself to be taught, but 
he has not yet learned any thing accurately. When a 
child sees a guinea and a shilling, and smiling says, 
" That's a guinea, mamma ! and that's a shilling !" the 



60 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

mother is pleased and surprised by her son's intelli- 
gence, and she gives him credit for more than he really 
possesses. We have associated with the words guinea 
and shilling a number of ideas, and when we hear the 
same words pronounced by a young child, we perhaps 
have some confused belief that he has acquired the 
same ideas that we have ; hence we are pleased with 
the mere sound of words of high import from mfantine 
lips. 

Children, who are delighted in their turn by the ex- 
pression of pleasure in the countenance of others, repeat 
the things which they perceive have pleased ; and thus 
their education is begun by those who first smile upon 
them, and listen to them when they attempt to speak. 
They who applaud children for knowing the names of 
things, induce them quickly to learn a number of names 
by rote ; as long as they learn the names of external 
objects only, which they can see, and smell, and touch, 
all is well ; the names will convey distinct ideas of cer- 
tain perceptions. A child who learns the name of a 
taste, or of a colour, who learns that the taste of sugar 
is called sweet, and that the colour of a red rose is 
called red, has learned distinct words to express certain 
perceptions ; and we can at any future time recall to his 
mind the memory of those perceptions by means of 
their names, and he understands us as well as the most 
learned philosopher. But, suppose that a boy had 
learned only the name of gold ; that when different 
metals were shown to him, he could put his finger upon 
gold, and say, " That is gold ;" yet this boy does not 
know all the properties of gold ; he does not know iii 
what it differs from other metals ; to what uses it is 
applied in arts, manufactures, and commerce ; the name 
of gold, in his mind, represents nothing more than a 
substance of a bright yellow colour, upon which people^ 
he does not precisely know why, set a great value. 
Now, it is very possible, that a child might, on the con- 
trary, learn all the properties, and the various uses of 
gold, without having learned its name : his ideas of this 
metal would be perfectly distinct ; but whenever he 
wished to speak of gold^ he would be obliged to use a 
vast deal of circumlocution to make himself under- 
stood ; and if he were to enumerate all the properties 
of the metal every time he wanted to recall the general 
idea,, his conversation would be intolerably tedious tO: 



TASKS. 61 

others, and to himself this useless repetition must be 
extremely laborious. He would certainly be glad to 
learn that single word gold, which would save him so 
much trouble ; his understanding would appear suddenly 
to have improved, simply from his having acquired a 
proper sign to represent his ideas. The boy who had 
learned the name, without knowing any of the properties 
of gold, would also appear comparatively ignorant, as 
soon as it is discovered that he has few ideas annexed 
to the word. It is, perhaps, for this reason, that some 
children seem suddenly to shine out with knowledge, 
which no one suspected they possessed ; while others, 
who had appeared to be very quick and clever, come to 
a dead stop in their education, and appear to be blighted 
by some unknown cause. The children who suddenly 
shine out, are those who had acquired a number of 
ideas, and who, the moment they acquire proper words, 
can communicate their thoughts to others. Those 
children who suddenly seem to lose their superiority^ 
are those who had acquired a variety of words, but who 
had not annexed ideas to them. When their ignorance 
is detected, we not only despair of them, but they are 
apt to despair of themselves : they see their companions 
get before them, and they do not exactly perceive the 
cause of their sudden incapacity. Where we speak of 
sensible, visible, tangible objects, we can easily detect 
and remedy a child's ignorance. It is easy to discover 
■whether he has or has not a complete notion of such a 
substance as gold ; we can enumerate its properties, 
and readily point out in what his definition is defective. 
The substance can be easily produced for examination ; 
most of its properties are obvious to the senses ; we 
have nothing to^do but to show them to the child, and 
to associate with each property its usual name ; her© 
there can be no danger of puzzling his understanding ; 
but when we come to the explanation of words which 
do not represent external objects, we shall find the affair 
more difficult. We can make children understand the 
meaning of those words which are the names of simple- 
feelings of the mind, such as surprise, joy, grief, pity ; 
because we can either put our pupils in situations 
where they actually feel these sensations, and then we- 
may associate the name with the feelings ; or we may, 
by the example of other people, who actually suffer 
pain or enjoy pleasure, point out what we moan by 



62 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

the words joy and grief. But how shall we explain 
to our young pupils a number of words which represent 
neither existing substances nor simple feelings, when 
we can neither recur to experiment nor to sympathy 
for assistance ? How shall we explain, for instance, 
the words virtue, justice, benevolence, beauty, taste, 
&c. 1 To analyze our own ideas of these is no easy 
task ; to explain the process to a young child is scarcely 
possible. Call upon any man, who has read and re- 
flected, for a definition of virtue ; the whole " theory of 
moral sentiments" rises, perhaps, to his view at once, 
in all its elegance ; the paradoxical acumen of Mande- 
ville, the perspicuous reasoning of Hume, the accurate 
metaphysics of Condillac, the persuasive eloquence of 
Stewart ; all the various doctrines that have been sup- 
ported concerning the foundation of morals, such as the 
fitness of things, the moral sense, the beauty of truth, 
utility, sympathy, common sense ; all that has been said 
by ancient and modern philosophers, is recalled in tran- 
sient, perplexing succession, to his memory. If such be 
the state of mind of the man who is to define, what 
must be the condition of the child who is to understand 
the definition ? All that a prudent person will attempt, 
is to give instances of different virtues ; but even these, 
it will be difficult properly to select for a child. General 
terms, whether in morals or in natural philosophy, 
should, we apprehend, be as much as possible avoided 
in early education. Some people may imagine that 
children have improved in virtue and wisdom, when 
they can talk fluently of justice, and charity, and hu- 
manity ; when they can read with a good emphasis any 
didactic compositions in verse or prose. But let any 
person of sober common sense be allowed to cross- 
examine these proficients, and the pretended extent of 
their knowledge will shrink into a narrow compass ; 
nor will their virtues, which have never seen service, 
be ready for action. 

General terms are, as it were, but the endorsements 
upon the bundles of our ideas; they are useful to those 
who have collected a number of ideas, but utterly use- 
less to those who have no collections ready for classifi- 
cation : nor should we be in a hurry to tie up the bun- 
dles, till ,we are sure that the collection is tolerably com- 
plete ; the trouble, the difficulty, the shame of untying 
them late in life, is felt even by superior minds. " Sir," 



TASKS. 63 

said Dr. Johnson, " I don't like to have any of my opin- 
ions attacked. I have made up my fagot, and if you 
draw out one you weaken the whole bundle." 

Preceptors sometimes explain general terms and ab- 
stract notions vaguely to their pupils, simply because 
they are ashamed to make that answer which every sen- 
sible person must frequently make to a child's inquiries. 
"I don't know."* Surely it is much better to say at 
once, " I cannot explain this to you," than to attempt an 
imperfect or sophistical reply. Fortunately for us, chil- 
dren, if they are not forced to attend to studies for wliich 
they have no taste, will not trouble us much with moral 
and metaphysical questions ; their attention will be fully 
employed upon external objects ; intent upon experi- 
ments, they will not be very inquisitive about theories. 
Let us then take care that their simple ideas be accu- 
rate, and when these are compounded, their complex 
notions, their principles, opinions, and tastes, will neces- 
sarily be just ; their language will then be as accurate 
as their ideas are distinct ; and hence they will be ena- 
bled to reason with precision and to invent with facility. 
We may observe, that the great difficulty in reasoning 
is to fix steadily upon our terms ; ideas can be readily 
compared, when the words by which we express them 
are defined ; as in arithmetic and algebra, we can easily 
solve any problem, when we have precise signs for all 
the numbers and quantities which are to be considered. 

It is not from idleness, it is not from stupidity, it is 
not from obstinacy, that children frequently show an 
indisposition to listen to those who attempt to explain 
things to them. The exertion of attention which is 
frequently require(i from them, is too great for the pa- 
tience of childhood : the words that are used are so in- 
accurate in their signification, that they convey to the 
mind sometimes one idea and sometimes another ; we 
might as well require of them to cast up a sum right 
while we rubbed out and changed the figures every in- 
stant, as expect that they should seize a combination of 
ideas presented to them in variable words. Whoever 
expects to command the attention of an intelligent child, 
must be extremely careful in the use of words. If the 
pupil be paid for the labour of listening by the pleasure 
of understanding what is said, he will attend, whether it 

* Rousseau. 



64 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

be to his playfellow or to his tutor, to conversation or 
to books. But if he has by fatal experience discovered, 
that, let him listen ever so intently, he cannot under- 
stand, he will spare himself the trouble of fruitless ex- 
ertion ; and, though he may put on a face of attention, 
his thoughts will wander far from his tutor and his tasks. 

" It is impossible to fix the attention of children," 
exclaims the tutor ; " when this boy attends he can do 
any thing, but he will not attend for a single instant." 

Alas ! it is in vain to say he ivill not attend ; he cannot. 



CHAPTER III. 

ON ATTENTION. 

Pere Bourgeois, one of the missionaries to China, at- 
tempted to preach a Chinese sermon to the Chinese. 
His own account of the business is the best we can give. 

" They told me Chou signifies a book, so that I thought 
whenever the word Chou was pronounced, a book was 
the subject of discourse ; not at all. Chou, the next 
time I heard it, I found signified a tree. Now I was to 
recollect Chou was a book and a tree ; but this amount- 
ed to nothing. Chou I found also ex'^xesse^ great heats. 
Chou is to relate. Chou is the Aurora. Chou means, to 
be accustomed. Chou expresses the loss of a ivager^ dfc. 
I should never have done were I to enumerate all its 
mPrininp"S #####'^####### 

" I recited my sermon at least fifty times to my ser- 
vant before I spoke it in public ; and yet I am told, 
though he continually corrected me, that of the ten 
parts of the sermon (as the Chinese express themselves) 
they hardly understood three. Fortunately,, the Chinese 
are wonderfully patient." 

Children are sometimes in the condition in which the 
Chinese found themselves at this learned missionary's 
sermon, and their patience deserves to be equally com- 
mended. The difficulty of understanding the Chinese 
Chou, strikes us immediately, and we sympathize with 
Pere Bourgeois's perplexity ; yet, many words which 
are in common use among us, may perhaps be as puz- 
zling to children. Block (see Johnson's Dictionary) 



ATTENTION. 65 

signifies a heavypiece of timber, a mass of matter . Block 
means the wood on which hats are formed. Block means 
the wood on tvhich ci'iminals are beheaded. Block is a. sea- 
term for pulley. Block is an obstruction, a stop; and 
finally, Block means a blockhead. 

There are, in our language, ten meanings for sweet, 
ten for open, twenty-two for upon, and sixty-three for to 
fall. Such are the defects of language ! But, whatever 
they may be, we cannot hope immediately to see them 
reformed, because common consent, and universal cus- 
tom, must combine to establish a new vocabulary. 
None but philosophers could invent, and none* but phi- 
losophers would adopt a philosophical language. 

The new philosophical language of chymistry was re- 
ceived at first with some reluctance, even by chymists, 
notwithstanding its obvious utility and elegance. Butter 
of antimony, and liver of sulphur, flowers of zinc, oil of 
vitriol, and spirit of sulphur by the bell, powder of alga- 
roth, and salt of alem-broth, may yet long retain their 
ancient titles among apothecaries. There does not 
exist in the mineral kingdom either butter or oil, or yet 
flowers ; these treacherous names* are given to the 
most violent poisons, so that there is no analogy to guide 
the understanding or the memory : but Custom has a 
prescriptive right to talk nonsense. The barbarous 
enigmatical jargon of the ancient adepts continued for 
above a century to be the only chymical language of 
men of science, notwithstanding the prodigious labour 
to the memory, and confusion to the understandings 
which it occasioned: they have but just now left off 
calling one of their vessels for distilling a death's head, 
and another a helmet. Capricious analogy with diffi- 
culty yields to rational arrangement. If such has been 
the slow progress of a philosophical language among 
the learned, how can we expect to make a general, or 
even a partial reformation among the ignorant ? And 
it may be asked, how can we in education attempt to 
teach in any but customary terms ? There is no occa- 
sion to make any sudden or violent alteration in lan- 
guage ; but a man who attempts to teach will find it 
necessary to select his terms with care, to define thep.i 
with accuracy, and to abide by them with steadiness ; 
thus he will make a philosophical vocabulary for him- 

* See Preface to Berthollet's Chymical Nomenclature. 



66 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

self. Persons who want to puzzle and to deceive al- 
ways pursue a contrary practice ; they use as great a 
variety of unmeaning, or of ambiguous words, as they 
possibly can.* That state juggler, Oliver Cromwell, 
-excelled in this species of eloquence ; his speeches are 
"Inodels in their kind. Count Cagliostro, and the 
Countess de la Motte, were not his superiors in the 
power of baffling the understanding. The ancient ora- 
cles, and the old books of judicial astrologers, and of 
alchymists, were contrived upon the same principles ; 
in all these we are confounded by a multiplicity of words 
which convey a doubtful sense. 

Children, who have not the habit of listening to words 
without understanding them, yawn and writhe with 
manifest symptoms of disgust, whenever they are com- 
pelled to hear sounds which convey no ideas to their 
minds. All supernumerary words should be avoided in 
cultivating the power of attention. 

The common observation, that we can attend to but 
one thing at a time, should never be forgotten by those 
who expect to succeed in the art of teaching. In teach- 
ing new terms, or new ideas, we must not produce a 
number at once. It is prudent to consider, that the 
actual progress made in our business at one sitting is 
not of so much consequence, as the desire left in the 
pupil's mind to sit again. Now a child will be better 
pleased with himself, and with his tutor, if he acquire 
one distinct idea from a lesson, than if he retained a 
confused notion of twenty different things. Some peo- 
ple imagine, that as children appear averse to repetition, 
variety will amuse them. Variety, to a certain degree, 
certainly relieves the mind ; but then the objects which 
are varied must not all be entirely new. Novelty and 
variety, joined, fatigue the mind. Either we remain 
passive at the show, or else we fatigue ourselves with 
ineffectual activity. 

A few years ago, a gentlemanf brought two Esqui- 
maux to London — he wished to amuse, and at the same 
time to astonish them, with the great magnificence of 
the metropolis. For this purpose, after having equipped 
them like English gentlemen, he took them out one 
morning to walk through the streets of London. They 

* V. Condillac's " Art de Penser." 

t Major Cartwright. See his Journal, &c. 



ATTENTION. 67 

walked for several hours in silence; they expressed 
neither pleasure nor admiration at any thing which they 
saw. When their walk was ended, they appeared un- 
commonly melancholy and stupified. As soon as they 
got home, they sat down with their elbows upon their 
knees, and hid their faces between their hands. The 
only words they could be brought to utter, were, " Too 
much smoke — too much noise — too much houses — too 
much men — too much every thing !" 

Some people who attend pubUc lectures upon natural 
philosophy, with the expectation of being much amused 
and instructed, go home with sensations similar to those 
of the poor Esquimaux ; they feel that they have had 
too much of every thing. The lecturer has not time to 
explain his terms, or to repeat them till they are distinct 
in the memory of his audience.* To children, every 
mode of instruction must be hurtful which fatigues at- 
tention ; therefore, a skilful preceptor will, as much as 
possible, avoid the manner of teaching, to which the 
public lecturer is in some degree compelled by his situ- 
ation. A private preceptor, who undertakes the instruc- 
tion of several pupils in the same family, will examine 
with care the different habits and tempers of his pupils ; 
and he will have full leisure to adapt his instructions 
peculiarly to each. 

There are some general observations which apply to 
all understandings ; these we shall first enumerate, and 
we may afterward examine what distinctions should 
be made for pupils of different tempers or different dis- 
positions. 

Besides distinctness and accuracy in the language 
which we use, besides care to produce but few ideas or 
terms that are new in our first lessons, we must exer- 
cise attention only during very short periods. In the 
beginning of every science pupils have much laborious 
work ; we should therefore allow them time ; we should 
repress our own impatience when they appear to be slow 
in comprehending reasons, or in seizing analogies. We 
often expect, that those whom we are teaching should 
know some things intuitively, because these may have 
been so long known to us that we forget how we learned 
them. We may, from habit, learn to pass with extra- 
ordinary velocity from one idea to another. " Some 

* V. Chapter on Mechanics. 



68 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

often repeated processes of reasoning or invention," 
says Mr. Stewart, " may be carried on so quickly in the 
mind, that we may not be conscious of them ourselves." 
Yet we easily convince ourselves that this rapid facility 
ef thought is purely the result of practice, by observing 
the comparatively slow progress of our understandings 
in subjects to which we have not been accustomed : the 
progress of the mind is there so slow, that we can count 
every step. 

We are disposed to think that those must be naturally 
slow and stupid, who do not perceive the resemblances 
between objects which strike us, we say, at the first 
glance. But what we call the first glance is frequently 
the fiftieth : we have got the things completely by heart ; 
all the parts are known to us, and we are at leisure to 
compare and judge. A reasonable preceptor will not 
expect from his pupils two efforts of attention at the 
same instant ; he will not require them at once to learn 
terms by heart, and to compare the objects which those 
terms represent ; he will repeat his terms till they are 
thoroughly fixed in the memory ; he will repeat his 
reasoning till the chain of ideas is completely formed. 

Repetition makes all operations easy; even the fa- 
tigue of thinking diminishes by habit. That we may 
not increase the labour of the mind unseasonably, we 
should watch for the moment when habit has made one 
lesson easy, and when we may go forward a new step. 
In teaching the children at the House of Industry at 
Munich to spin, Count Rumford wisely ordered that 
they should be made perfect in one motion before any 
other was shown to them : at first they were allowed 
only to move the wheel by the treadle with their feet ; 
when, after sufficient practice, the foot became perfect 
in its lesson, the hands were set to work, and the chil- 
dren were allowed to begin to spin with coarse materi- 
als. It is said that these children made remarkably good 
spinners. Madame de Genlis applied the same princi- 
ple in teaching Adela to play upon the harp.* 

In the first attempts to learn any new bodily exercise, 
as fencing or dancing, persons are not certain what mus- 
cles they must use, and what may be left at rest ; they 
generally employ those of which they have the most 
ready command, but these may not always be the mus- 

* V. Adela and Theodore 



ATTENTION. 69 

cles which are really wanted in the new operation. 
The simplest thing appears difficult, till, by practice, we 
have associated the various slight motions which ought 
to be combined. We feel, that from want of use, our 
motions are not obedient to our will ; and to supply this 
defect, we exert more strength and activity than are re- 
quisite. " It does not require strength ; you need not 
use so much force ; you need not take so much pains ;" 
we frequently say to those who are making the first 
painful, awkward attempts, at some simple operation. 
Can any thing appear more easy than knitting, when 
we look at the dexterous, rapid motions of an experi- 
enced practitioner 1 But let a gentleman take up a 
lady's knittingneedles, and knitting appears to him, and 
to all the spectators, one of the most difficult and labo- 
rious operations imaginable. A lady who is learning to 
work with a tambour needle, puts her head down close 
to the tambour frame, the colour comes into her face, 
she strains her eyes, all her faculties are exerted, and 
perhaps she works at the rate of three links a minute. 
A week afterward, probably, practice has made the 
work perfectly easy ; the same lady goes rapidly on 
with her work ; she can talk and laugh, and perhaps 
even think, while she works. She has now discovered 
that a number of the motions, and a great portion of that 
attention which she thought necessary to this mighty 
operation, may be advantageously spared. 

In a similar manner, in the exercise of our minds upon 
subjects that are new to us, we generally exert more 
attention than is necessary or serviceable, and we con- 
sequently soon fatigue ourselves without any advantage. 
Children, to whom many subjects are new, are often 
fatigued by these overstrained and misplaced efforts. 
In these circumstances, a tutor should relieve the atten- 
tion by introducing indifferent subjects of conversation : 
he can, by showing no anxiety himself, either in his 
manner or countenance, relieve his pupil from any ap- 
prehension of his displeasure or of his contempt ; he 
can represent that the object before them is not a mat- 
ter of life and death ; that if the child does not succeed 
in the first trials, he will not be disgraced in the opinion 
of any of his friends ; that by perseverance he will cer- 
tainly conquer the difficulty ; that it is of little conse- 
quence whether he understands the thing in question to- 
day or to-morrow ; these considerations will calm the 



70 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

over-anxious pupil's agitation ; and whether he succeed 
or not, he will not suffer such a degree of pain as to 
disgust him in his first attempts. 

Besides the command which we, by this prudent man- 
agement, obtain over the pupil's mind, we shall also pre- 
vent him from acquiring any of those awkward gestures 
and involuntary motions, Avhich are sometimes practised 
to relieve the pain of attention. 

Dr. Darwin observes, that when we experience any 
disagreeable sensations, we endeavour to procure our- 
selves temporary relief by motions of those hiuscles 
and limbs which are most habitually obedient to our 
will. This observation extends to mental as well as to 
bodily pain ; thus persons in violent grief wring their 
hands and convulse their countenances ; those who are 
subject to the petty, but acute miseries of false shame, 
endeavour to relieve themselves by awkward gestures 
and continual motions. A ploughboy, when he is 
brought into the presence of those whom he thinks his 
superiors, endeavours to relieve himself from the uneasy 
sensations of false shame, by twirling his hat upon his 
fingers, and by various uncouth gestures. Men who 
think a great deal, sometimes acquire habitual awkward 
gestures, to relieve the pain of intense thought. 

When attention first becomes irksome to children, 
they mitigate the mental pain by wrinkling their brows, 
or they fidget and put themselves into strange attitudes. 
These odd motions, Avhich at first are voluntary, after 
they have been frequently associated with certain states 
of mind, constantly recur involuntarily with those feel- 
ings or ideas with which they have been connected. 
For instance, a boy who has been used to buckle and 
unbuckle his shoe, when he repeats his lesson by rote, 
cannot repeat his lesson without performing this oper- 
ation ; it becomes a sort of artificial memory, which is 
necessary to prompt his recollective faculty. When 
children have a variety of tricks of this sort, they are of 
little consequence ; but when they have acquired a few 
constant and habitual motions, while they think, or re- 
peat, or listen, these should be attended to, and the hab- 
its should be broken, otherwise these young people will 
appear, wdien they grow up, awkward and ridiculous in 
their manners ; and, what is worse, perhaps their thoughts 
and abilities will be too much in the power of external 
circumstances. Addison represents, with nnich humour, 



ATTENTION. 71 

the case of a poor man who had the habit of twirling^ a 
bit of thread round his finger ; the thread was accident- 
ally broken, and the orator stood mute. 

We once saw a gentleman get up to speak in a public 
assembly, provided with a paper of notes written in pen- 
cil: during the exordium of his speech, he thumbed his 
notes with incessant agitation ; when he looked at the 
paper, he found that the words were totally obliterated ; 
he was obliged to apologize to his audience ; and, after 
much hesitation, sat down abashed. A father would be 
sorry to see his son in such a predicament. 

To prevent children from acquiring such awkward 
tricks while they are thinking, we should in the first 
place take care not to make them attend for too long a 
time together; then the pain of attention will not be so 
violent as to compel them to use these strange modes 
of rehef. Bodily exercise should immediately follow 
that entire state of rest, in which our pupils ought to 
keep themselves while they attend. The first symp- 
toms of any awkward trick should be watched ; they 
are easily prevented by early care from becoming ha- 
bitual. If any such tricks have been acquired, and if the 
pupil cannot exert his attention in common, unless cer- 
tain contortions are permitted, we should attempt the 
cure either by sudden slight bodily pain, or by a total 
suspension of all the emplo)^ments with which these bad 
habits are associated. If a boy could not read without 
swinging his head like a pendulum, we should rather 
prohibit him from reading for some time, than suffer him 
to grow up with this ridiculous habit. But in conversa- 
tion, whenever opportunities occur of telling him any 
thing in which he is particularly interested, we should 
refuse to gratify his curiosity, unless he keep himself 
perfectly still. The excitement here would be sufficient 
to conquer the habit. 

Whatever is connected with pain or pleasure, com- 
mands our attention ; but to make this general observa- 
tion useful in education, we must examine what degrees 
of stimulus are necessary for different pupils, and in dif- 
ferent circumstances. We have formerly observed,* 
that it is not prudent early to use violent or continual 
stimulus, either of a painful or a pleasurable nature, to 
excite children to application ; because we should, by an 

* Chapter on Tasks. 



72 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

intemperate use of these, weaken the mind, and because 
we may with a little patience obtain all we wish without 
these expedients. Besides these reasons, there is an- 
other potent argument against using violent motives to 
excite attention ; such motives frequently disturb and 
dissipate the very attention which they attempt to fix. 
If a child be threatened with severe punishment, or flat- 
tered with the promise of some delicious reward, in 
order to induce his performance of any particular task, 
he desires instantly to perform the task; but this desire 
will not ensure his success : unless he have previously 
acquired the habit of vokmtary exertion, he will not be 
able to turn his mind from his ardent wishes, even to 
the means of accomplishing them. He will be in the 
situation of Alnaschar in the Arabian tales, who, while 
he dreamed of his future grandeur, forgot his immediate 
business. The greater his hope or fear, the greater the 
difficulty of his employing himself. 

To teach any new habit or art, we must not employ 
any alarming excitements : small, certain, regularly re- 
curring motives, which interest, but which do not dis- 
tract the mind, are evidently the best. The ancient in- 
habitants of Minorca were said to be the best slingers in 
the world ; when they were children, every morning 
what they were to eat was slightly suspended from high 
poles, and they were obliged to throw down their break- 
fasts with their slings from the places where they were 
suspended, before they could satisfy their hunger. The 
motive seems to have been here well proportioned to 
the effect which was required ; it could not be any great 
misfortune to a boy to go without his breakfast ; but as 
this motive returned every morning, it became suffi- 
ciently serious to the hungry slingers. 

It is impossible to explain this subject so as to be of 
use, without descending to minute particulars. When 
a mother says to her little daughter, as she places on 
the table before her a bunch of ripe cherries, " Tell me, 
my dear, how many cherries are there, and I will give 
them to you," — the child's attention is fixed instantly ; 
there is a sufficient motive ; not a motive which excites 
any violent passions, but which raises just such a de- 
gree of hope as is necessary to produce attention. The 
little girl, if she knows from experience that her mother's 
promise will be kept, and that her owm patience is likely 
to succeed, counts the cherries carefully, has her re- 



ATTENTION. 73 

ward, and upon the next similar trial she will, from this 
success, be still more disposed to exert her attention. 
The pleasure of eating cherries, associated with the 
pleasure of success, will balance the pain of a few mo- 
ments' prolonged application, and by degrees the cher- 
ries may be withdrawn, the association of pleasure will 
remain. Objects or thoughts that have been associated 
with pleasure, retain the power of pleasing ; as the 
needle touched by the loadstone acquires polarity, and 
retains it long after the loadstone is withdrawn. 

Whenever attention is habitually raised by the power 
of association, we should be careful to withdraw all the 
excitements that were originally used, because these 
are now unnecessary ; and, as we have formerly ob- 
served, the steady rule, with respect to stimulus, should 
be to give the least possible quantity that will produce 
the effect we want. Success is a great pleasure ; as 
soon as children become sensible to this pleasure, that 
is to say, when they have tasted it two or three times, 
they will exert their attention merely with the hope of 
succeeding. We have seen a little boy of three years 
old, frowning with attention for several minutes to- 
gether, while he was trying to clasp and unclasp a lady's 
bracelet; his whole soul was intent upon the business ; 
he neither saw nor heard any thing else that passed in the 
room, though several people were talking, and S9me hap- 
pened to be looking at him. The pleasure of success, 
when he clasped the bracelet, was quite sufficient ; he 
looked for no praise, though he was perhaps pleased 
with the sympathy that was shown in his success. 
Sympathy is a better reward for young children in such 
circumstances thcin praise, because it does not excite 
vanity, and it is connected with benevolent feehngs ; 
besides, it is not so violent a stimulus as applause. 

Instead of increasing excitements to produce atten- 
tion, we may vary them, which will have just the same 
effect. When sympathy fails, try curiosity ; when cu- 
riosity fails, try praise ; when praise begins to lose its 
effect, try blame ; and when you go back again to sym- 
pathy, you will find that, after this interval, it will have 
recovered all its original power. Doctor Darwin, who 
has the happy art of illustrating, from the most familiar 
circumstances in real life, the abstract theories of philos- 
ophy, gives us the following picturesque instance of the 
wse of varying motives to prolong exertion. 
D 



74 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

" A little boy, who was tired of walking, begged of his 
papa to carry him. ' Here,' says the reverend doctor, 
' ride upon my gold-headed cane ;' and the pleased 
child, putting it between his legs, galloped away with 
deligiit. Here the aid of another sensorial power, that 
of pleasurable sensation, superadded power to exhausted 
volition, which could otherwise only have been excited 
by additional pain, as by the lash of slavery."* 

Alexander the Great one day saw a poor man carry- 
ing upon his shoulders a heavy load of silver for the 
royal camp : the man tottered under his burden, and was 
ready to give up the point from fatigue. "Hold on, 
friend, the rest of the way, and carry it to your own 
tent, for it is yours," said Alexander. 

There are some people who have the power of ex- 
citing others to great mental exertions ; not by the 
promise of specific rewards, or by the threats of any 
punishment, but by the ardent ambition which they in- 
spire ; by the high value which is set upon their love and 
esteem. When we have formed a high opinion of a 
friend, his approbation becomes necessary to our own 
self-complacency, and we think no labour too great to 
satisfy our attachment. Our exertions are not fatiguing, 
because they are associated with all the pleasurable sen- 
sations of affection, self-complacency, benevolence, and 
liberty. These feelings, in youth, produce all the vir- 
tuous enthusiasm characteristic of great minds ; even 
childhood is capable of it in some degree, as those pa- 
rents well know who have ever enjoyed the attachment 
of a grateful, affectionate child. Those who neglect to 
cultivate the affections of their pupils, will never be able 
to excite them to " noble ends" by " noble means." 
Theirs will be the dominion of fear, from which reason 
will emancipate herself, and from which pride will yet 
more certainly revolt. 

If Henry the Fourth of France had been reduced, like 
Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse, to earn his bread as a 
schoolmaster, what a different preceptor he would prob- 
ably have made ! Dionysius must have been hated by 
his scholars as much as by his subjects ; for it is said that 
"hef practised upon children that tyranny which he 
could no longer exercise over men." 

The embassador who found Henry the Fourth playing 

* Zoonomia, vol. i. page 435. f Cicero. 



ATTENTION. 75 

upon the carpet with his children, would probably have 
trusted his own children, if he had any, to the care of 
such an affectionate tutor. 

Henry the Fourth would have attached his pupils 
while he instructed them ; they would hav-e exerted 
themselves, because they could not have been happy 
without his esteem. Henry's courtiers, or rather his 
friends, for though he was a king he had friends, some- 
times expressed surprise at their own disinterestedness : 
*' This king pays us with v/ords," said they, " and yet 
we are satisfied!" Sully, when he was only Baron de 
Rosny, and before he had any hopes of being a duke, 
was once in a passion with the king his master, and 
half resolved to leave him : " But I don't know how it 
was," says the honest minister ; " with all his faults, 
there is something about Henry which I found I could 
not leave ; and when I met him again, a few words made 
me forget all my causes of discontent." 

Children are more easily attached than courtiers, and 
full as easily rewarded. When once this generous de- 
sire of affection and esteem is raised in the mind, their 
exertions seem to be universal and spontaneous : chil- 
dren are then no longer like machines, which require to 
be wound up regularly to perform certain revolutions ; 
they are animated with a living principle, which directs 
all that it inspires. 

We have endeavoured to point out the general excite- 
ments and the general precautions to be used in cul- 
tivating the power of attention ; it maybe expected that 
we should more particularly apply these to the charac- 
ters of different pupils. We shall not here examine 
whether there be any original diff'erence of character or 
intellect, because this would lead into a wide theoretical 
discussion ; a difference in the temper and talents of 
children early appears, and some practical remarks may 
be of service to correct defects, or to improve abilities, 
whether we suppose them to be natural or acquired. 
The first differences which a preceptor observes between 
his pupils, when he begins to teach them, are perhaps 
scarcely marked so strongly as to strike the careless 
spectator ; but in a few years these varieties are appa- 
rent to every eye. This seems to prove, that during the 
interval the power of education has operated strongly to 
increase the original propensities. The quick and slow, 
the timid and presumptuous, should be early instructed 



76 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

SO as to correct as much as possible their several 
defects. 

The manner in which children are first instructed must 
tend either to increase or diminish their timidity or their 
confidence in themselves ; to encourage them to under- 
take great things, or to rest content with limited ac- 
quirements. Young people, who have found from ex- 
perience that they cannot remember or understand one 
half of what is forced upon their attention, become ex- 
tremely diffident of their own capacity, and they will 
not undertake as much even as they are able to perform. 
With timid tempers, we should therefore begin, by ex- 
pecting but little from each effort ; but whatever is at- 
tempted, should be certainly within their attainment ; 
success will encourage the most stupid humility. It 
should be carefully pointed out to diffident children, that 
attentive patience can do as much as quickness of intel- 
lect. If they perceive that time makes all the differ- 
ence between the quick and the slow, they will be in- 
duced to persevere. The transition of attention from 
one subject to another is difficult to some children, to 
others it is easy. If all be expected to do the same 
things in an equal period of time, the slow will abso- 
lutely give up the competition ; but, on the contrary, if 
they are allowed time, they will accomplish their pur- 
poses. We have been confirmed in our belief of this doc- 
trine by experiments. The same problems have been 
frequently given to children of different degrees of quick- 
ness ; and though some succeeded much more quickly 
than others, all the individuals in the family have perse- 
vered till they have solved the questions ; and the timid 
seem to have been more encouraged by tliis practical 
demonstration of the infallibility of persevering atten- 
tion,^ than by any other methods which have been tried. 
When, after a number of small successful trials, they 
have acquired some share of confidence in themselves, 
when they are certain of the possibility of their per- 
forming any given operations, we may then press them 
a little as to velocity. When they are well acquainted 
with any set of ideas, we may urge them to quick transi- 
tion of attention from one to another ; but if we insist 
upon this rapidity of transition before they are thor- 
oughly acquainted with each idea in the assemblage, we 
shall only increase their timidity and hesitation ; we 
shall confound their understandings, and depress their 
ambition. 



ATTENTION. 77 

It is of consequence to distinguish between slow and 
sluggish attention. Sometimes children appear stupid 
and heavy, when they are absolutely exhausted by too 
great efforts of attention ; at other times, they have 
something like the same dulness of aspect, before they 
have had any thing to fatigue them, merely from their 
not having yet awakened themselves to business. We 
must be certain of our pupil's state of mind before we 
proceed. If he be incapacitated from fatigue, let him 
rest ; if he be torpid, rouse him with a rattling peal of 
thunder : but be sure that you have not, as it has been 
said of Jupiter,* recourse to your thunder only when 
you are in the wrong. Some preceptors scold when 
they cannot explain, and grow angry in proportion to 
the fatigue they see expressed in the countenance of 
their unhappy pupils. If a timid child foresees that an 
explanation will probably end in a philipic, he cannot fix 
his attention; he is anticipating the evil of your anger, 
instead of listening to your demonstrations ; and he 
says, " Yes, yes, I see, I know, I understand," with 
trembling eagerness, while, through the mist and con- 
fusion of his fears, he can scarcely see or hear, much 
less understand any thing. If you mistake the confusion 
and fatigue of terror for inattention or indolence, and 
press your pupil to further exerti(ms, you will confirm, 
instead of curing, his stupidity. You must diminish his 
fear before you can increase his attention. With chil- 
dren who are thus, from timid anxiety to please, dis- 
posed to exert their faculties too much, it is obvious 
that no excitation should be used ; but every playful, 
every affectionate means should be employed to dissi- 
pate their apprehensions. 

It is more difficult to manage with those who have 
sluggish, than with those who have timid attention. 
Indolent children have not usually so lively a taste for 
pleasure as others have ; they do not seem to hear or 
see so quickly ; they are content with a little enjoy- 
ment ; they have scarcely any ambition ; they seem to 
prefer ease to all sorts of glory ; they have little volun- 
tary exertion; and the pain of attention is to them so 
great, that they would preferably endure the pain of 
shame, and of all the accumulated punishments which 
are commonly devised for them by the vengeance of 

* Lucian. 



78 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their exasperated tutors. Locke notices this listless, 
lazy humour in children ; he classes it under the head 
" Sauntering ;" and he divides saunterers into two spe- 
cies : those who saunter only at their books and tasks, 
and those who saunter at play and every thing-. The 
book-saiinterers have only an acute, the others have a 
chronic disease ; the one is easily cured, the other dis- 
ease will cost more time and pains. - 

If, by some unlucky management, a vivacious child 
acquire a dislike to literary application, he may appear 
at his books with all the stupid apathy of a dunce. In 
this state of literary dereliction, we should not force 
books and tasks of any sort upon him ; we should rather 
watch him when he is eager at amusements of his own 
selection, observe to what his attention turns, and culti- 
vate his attention upon that subject, v.hatever it may 
be. He may be led to think, and to acquire knov/ledge 
upon a variety of subjects, without sitting down to read ; 
and thus he may form habits of attention and applica- 
tion, which will be associated with pleasure. When he 
returns to books, he will find that he understands a 
variety of things in them which before appeared incom- 
prehensible ; they will "give him back the image of his 
mind," and he will like them as he likes pictures. 

As long as a child shows energy upon any occasion, 
there is hope. If he " lend his little soul"* to whipping 
a top, there is no danger of his being a dunce. When 
Alcibiades was a child, he was one day playing at dice 
with other boys in the street ; a loaded wagon came up 
just as it was his time to throw. At first he called to 
the driver to stop, but the wagoner would not stop his 
horses ; all the boys, except Alcibiades, ran away ; but 
Alcibiades threw himself upon his face, directly before 
the h'Arses, and stretching himself out,, bid the wagoner 
drive on if he pleased. Perhaps, at the time when he 
showed this energy about a game at dice, Alcibiades 
might have been a saunterer at his book, and a foolish 
schoolmaster might have made him a dunce. 

Locke advises, that children who are too much ad- 
dicted to what is called play, should be surfeited with it, 
that they may return to business with a better appetite. 
But this advice supposes that play has been previously 
interdicted, or that it is something pernicious : we have 

* "And lends his little soul at every stroke." — Virgil. 



ATTENTION. 79 

endeavoured to show that play is nothing but a change 
of employment, and that the attention maybe exercised 
advantageously upon a variety of subjects which are not 
called Tasks.* 

With those who show chronic listlessness, Locke ad- 
vises that we should use every sort of stimulus ; praise, 
amusement, fine clothes, eating; any thing that will 
make them bestir themselves. He argues, that as there 
appears a deficiency of vigour, we have no reason to 
fear excess of appetite for any of these things ; nay, 
further still, where none of these will act, he advises 
compulsory bodily exercise. If we cannot, he says, 
make sure of the invisible attention of tlie mind, we may 
at least get something done, prevent the habit of total 
idleness, and perhaps make the children desire to ex- 
change labour of body for labour of mind. These expe- 
dients will, we fear, be found rather palliative than ef- 
fectual ; if, by fore nig children to bodily exercise, that 
become disagreeable, they may prefer labour of the 
mind ; but in making this exchange or bargain, they are 
sensible that they choose the least of two evils. The 
evil of application is diminished only by comparison in 
their estimation ; they will avoid it whenever they are 
at hberty. The love of eating, of fine clothes, &c., if 
they stimulate a slothful child, must be the ultimate ob- 
ject of his exertions ; he will consider the performance 
of his task merely as a painful condition on his part. 
Still the association of pain with literature continues ; 
it is then impossible that he should love it. There is no 
active principle within him, no desire for knowledge 
excited ; his attention is forced ; it ceases the moment 
the external force is withdrawn. He drudges to earn 
his cream-bowl duly set, but he will stretch his lubber 
length the moment his task is done. 

There is another class of children opposed to saun- 
terers, whom we may denominate volatile geniuses. 
They show a vast deal of quickness and vivacity ; they 
understand almost before a tutor can put his ideas into 
words ; they observe a variety of objects, but they do 
not connect their observations ; and the very rapidity 
with which they seize an explanation, prevents them 
from thoroughly comprehending it ; they are easily dis- 
turbed by external objects when they are thinking. As 

* See Chapter II. on Tasks, 



so I'RACTICAL EDUCATION. 

they have great sensibihty, their associations are strong 
and various ; their thoughts branch off into a thousand 
beautiful, but useless ramifications. While you are at- 
tempting to instruct them upon one subject, they are 
inventing, perhaps, upon another; or they are following 
a train of ideas suggested by something you have said, 
but foreign to your business. They are more pleased 
with the discovery of resemblances, than with discrim- 
ination of difference ; the one costs them more time and 
attention than the other : they are apt to say witty 
things, and to strike out sparks of invention ; but they 
have not commonly the patience to form exact judg- 
ments, or to bring their first inventions to perfection. 
When they begin the race, everybody expects that they 
should outstrip all competitors ; but it is often seen that 
slower rivals reach the goal before them. The predic- 
tions formed of pupils of this temperament vary much, 
according to the characters of their tutors. A slow 
man is provoked by their dissipated vivacity, and, unable 
to catch or fix their attention, prognosticates that they 
will never have sufficient application to learn any thing. 
This prophecy, under certain tuition, would probably 
be accomplished. The want of sympathy between a 
slow tutor and a quick child, is a great disadvantage to 
both ; each insists upon going his own pace and his own 
way, and these ways are perhaps diametrically oppo- 
site. Even in forming a judgment of the child's atten- 
tion, the tutor, who is not acquainted with the manner 
in which his pupil goes to work, is liable to frequent 
mistakes. Children are sometimes suspected of not 
having listened to what has been said to them, when 
they cannot exactly repeat the words that they have 
heard ; they often ask questions and make observations 
which seem quite foreign to the present business ; but 
this is not always a proof that their minds are absent, or 
that their attention is dissipated. Their answers often 
appear to be far from the point, because they suppress 
their intermediate ideas, and give only the result of their 
thoughts. This may be inconvenient to those who 
teach them ; but this habit sufficiently proves that these 
children are not deficient in attention. To cure them 
of the fault which they have, we should not accuse 
them falsely of another. But it may be questioned 
whether this be a fault ; it is absolutely necessary, in 
many processes of the mind, to suppress a number of 



ATTENTION. 81 

intermediate ideas. Life, if this were not practised, 
would be too short for those who think, and much too 
short for those who speak. When somebody asked 
Pyrrhus which of two nmsicians he liked the best, he 
answered, " Polysperchon is the best general." This 
would appear to be the absurd answer of an absent 
person, or of a fool, if we did not consider the ideas that 
are implied, as well as those which are expressed. 

March 5th, 1796. To-day, at dinner, a lady observed 
that Nicholson, Williamson, Jackson, &c., were names 
which originally meant the sons of Nicholas, William, 

Jack, &c. A boy who was present, H , added, with 

a very grave face, as soon as she had finished speaking, 
" Yes, ma'am, Tydides." Kis mother asked him what 

he could mean by this absent speech 1 H calmly 

repeated, " Ma'am, yes ; because I think it is like Ty- 
dides." His brother S eagerly interposed, to sup- 
ply the intermediate ideas; ''Yes, indeed, mother," 

cried he, '• H is not absent, because des, in Greek, 

means the son of (the race of). Tydides is the son of 
Tydeus, as Jackson is the son of Jack." In this in- 
stance, H was not absent, though he did not make 

use of a sufficient number of words to explain his ideas. 

August, 1796, L , when he returned home, after 

some months' absence, entertained his brothers and sis- 
ters with a new play, which he had learned at p]din- 
burgh. He told them, that when he struck the table 
with his hand, every person present was instantane- 
ously to remain fixed in the attitudes in which they 
should be when the blow was given. The attitudes m 
which some of the little company were fixed, occasioned 
much diversion ; but in speaking of this new play after- 
ward, they had no name for it. While they were think- 
ing of a name for it, H exclaimed, " The Gorgon !" 

It was immediately agreed that this was a good name 
for the play ; and H , upon this occasion, was per- 
fectly intelligible, without expressing all the interme- 
diate ideas. 

Good judges form an accurate estimate of the abilities 
of those who converse with them, by what they omit, 
as well as by what they say. If any one can show that 
he also has been in Arcadia, he is sure of being well 
received, without producing minutes of his journey. In 
the same manner we should judge of children ; if they 
arrive at certain conclusions in reasoning, we may be 
D3 



82 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

satisfied that they have taken all the nec-essary previous 
steps. We need not question their attention upon sub- 
jects where they give proofs of invention; they must 
have remembered well, or they could not invent ; they 
must have attended well, or they could not have remem- 
bered. Nothing wearies a quick child more than to be 
forced slowly to retrace his own thoughts, and to repeat 
the words of a discourse to prove that he has listened 
W it. A tutor who is slow in understanding the ideas 
of his vivacious pupil, gives him so much trouble and 
pain, that he grows silent, from finding it not worth 
while to speak, it is for this reason that children ap- 
pear stupid and silent with some people, and sprightly 
and talkative with others. Those who hope to talk to 
children with any effect, must, as Rousseau observes, be 
able to hear as well as to speak. M. de Segrais, who 
was deaf, was much in the right to decline being pre- 
ceptor to the Duke de Maine. A deaf preceptor would 
certainly make a child dumb. 

To win the attention of vivacious children, we must 
sometimes follow them in their zigzag course, and even 
press them to the end of their own train of thought. 
They will be content when they have obtained a full 
hearing ; then they will have leisure to discover that 
what they were in such haste to utter, was not so well 
worth saying as they imagined ; that their bright ideas 
often, when steadily examined by themselves, fade into 
absurdities. 

'•Where does this path lead to 1 Can't we get over 
this stile ■? May 1 onli/ go into this wood "?" exclaims an 
active child, when he is taken out to walk. Every path 
appears more delightful than the straight road; but let 
him try the paths, they will perhaps end in disappoint- 
ment, and then his imagination will be corrected. Let 
him try his own experiments, then he will be ready to 
try yours ; and if yours succeed better than his own, 
you will secure his confidence. After a child has talked 
on for some time, till he comes to the end of his ideas, 
then he will perhaps listen to what you have to say ; 
and if he finds it better than what he has been saying 
himself, he will voluntarily give you his attention the 
next time you begin to speak. 

Vivacious children are peculiarly susceptible of blame 
and praise ; we have, therefore, great power over their 
atlachmeint, if we manage these excitements properly. 



ATTENTION. 83 

These children should not be praised for their happy hits ; 
their first* glances should not be extolled ; but, on the 
contrary, they should be rewarded with universal ap- 
probation when they give proofs of patient industry, 
when they bring any thing to perfection. No one can 
bring any thing to perfection v/ithout long-continued 
attention ; and industry and perseverance presuppose 
attention. Proofs of any of these qualities may there- 
fore satisfy us as to the pupil's capacity and habits of 
attention ; we need not stand by to see the attention 
exercised ; the things produced are sufficient evidence. 
Buffon tells us that he wrote his Epoques de la Nature 
over eighteen times before he could perfect it to his 
taste. The high finish of his composition is sufficient 
evidence to intelligent readers, that he exerted long- 
continued attention upon the work ; they do not require 
to have the eighteen copies produced. 

Bacon supposes, that for every disease of the mind, 
specific remedies might be found in appropriate studies 
and exercises. Thus, for " birdwitted" children he pre- 
scribes the study of mathematics, because, in mathemat- 
ical studies, the attention must be fixed ; the least inter- 
mission of thought breaks the whole chain of reasoning, 
their labour is lost, and they must begin their demon- 
stration again. This principle is excellent ; but to ap- 
ply it advantageously, we should choose moments when 
a mathematical demonstration is interesting to children, 
else we have not sufficient motive to excite them to 
commence the demonstration; they will perceive that 
they lose all their labour if their attention is interrupted ; 
but how shall we make them begin to attend ? There 
are a variety of subjects which are interesting to chil- 
dren, to which we may apply Bacon's principle ; for in- 
stance, a child is eager to hear a story which you are 
going to tell him ; you may exercise his attention by 
your manner of telling this story ; you may employ with 
advantage the beautiful speech called suspension : but 
you must take care, that the hope which is long de- 
ferred be at last gratified. The young critics will look 
back, when your story is finished, and will examine 
whether their attention has been wasted, or whether all 
the particulars to which it was directed were essential. 
Though in amusing stories we recommend the figure 

* Apercues, 



84 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

called suspension,* we do not recommend its use in ex- 
planations. Our explanations sliould be put into as few- 
words as possible : the closer the connexion of ideas, 
the better. When we say, allow time to understand 
your explanations, we mean, allow time between each 
idea ; do not fill up the interval with words. Never, by 
way of gaining time, pay in sixpences ; this is the last 
resource of a bankrupt. 

We formerly observed that a preceptor, in his first 
lessons on any new subject, must submit to the drudg- 
ery of repeating his terms and his reasoning, until these 
are sufticiently familiar to his pupils. He must, how- 
ever, proportion the number of his repetitions to the 
temper and habits of his pupils, else he will weary, in- 
stead of strengthening the attention. When a thing is 
clear, let him never try to make it clearer; when a 
thing is understood, not a word more of exemplification 
should be added. To mark precisely the moment when 
the pupil understands what is said, the moment when 
he is master of the necessary ideas, and, consequently, 
the moment when repetition should cease, is, perhaps, 
the most difiicult thing in the art of teaching. The 
countenance, the eye, the voice, and manner of the pu- 
pil, mark this instant to an observing preceptor ; but a 
preceptor who is absorbed in his own ideas, will never 
think of looking in his pupil's face ; he will go on with 
his routine of explanation, while his once lively, atten- 
tive pupil, exhibits opposite to him the picture of stupi- 
fied fatigue. Quick, intelligent cliildren, who have fre- 
quently found that lessons are reiterated by a patient 
but injudicious tutor, will learn a careless mode of lis- 
tening at intervals; they will say to themselves, " Oh, I 
shall hear this again !" And if any stray thought comes 
across their minds, they will not scruple to amuse them- 
selves, and will afterward ask for a repetition of the 
words or ideas which they missed during this excursion 
of fancy. When they hear the warning advertisement 
of " certainly for the last time this season," they will 
deem it time enough to attend to the performance. To 
cure them of this presumption in favour of our patience, 
and of their own superlative quickness, we should press 
that quickness to its utmost speed. Whenever we call 
for their attention, let it be on subjects highly interests 

♦ Deinology. 



ATTENTION. 85 

ing or amusing'; and let us give them but just sufficient 
time with their fullest exertion to catch our words and 
ideas. As these quick gentlemen are proud of their 
rapidity of apprehension, this method will probably se- 
cure their attention ; they will dread the disgrace of not 
understanding what is said, and they will feel that they 
cannot understand unless they exert prompt, vigorous, 
unremitted attention. 

The Dutchess of Kingston used to complain that she 
could never acquire any knowledge, because she never 
could meet with anybody who could teach her any 
thing " in two words." Her grace felt the same sort 
of impatience which was expressed by the tyrant who 
expected to find a royal road to geometry. 

Those who believe themselves endowed with genius, 
expect to find a royal road in every science, shorter 
and less laborious than the beaten paths of industry. 
Their expectations are usually in proportion to their 
ignorance ; they see to the summit only of one hill, and 
they do not suspect the Alps that will arise as they ad- 
vance : but as children become less presumptuous, as 
they acquire more knowledge, we may bear with their 
juvenile impatience, while we take measures to enlarge 
continually their sphere of information. We should not, 
however, humour the attention of young people, by 
teaching them always in the mode which we know suits 
their temper best. Vivacious pupils should, from time to 
time, be accustomed to an exact enumeration of par- 
ticulars ; and we should take opportunities to convince 
them, that an orderly connexion of proofs, and a minute 
observation of apparent trifles, are requisite to produce 
the lively descriptions, great discoveries, and liappy in- 
ventions, which pupils of this disposition are ever prone 
to admire with enthusiasm. They will learn not to pass 
over old things, when they perceive that these may lead 
to something new ; and they will even submit to sober 
attention, when they feel that this is necessary even to 
the rapidity of genius. In the " Curiosities of Litera- 
ture," there has been judiciously preserved a curious 
instance of literary patience; the rough draught of that 
beautiful passage in Pope's translation of the Iliad 
which describes the parting of Hector and Andromache, 
The lines are in Pope's handwriting, and his numerous 
corrections appear ; the lines which seem to the reader 
to have been struck off at a single happy stroke, are 



86 PRACTICAL EDUCATIOff. 

proved to have been touched and retouched with the 
indefatigable attention of a great writer. The fragment, 
with all its climax of corrections, was shown to a young 
vivacious poet of nine years old, as a practical lesson, to 
prove the necessity of patience to arrive at perfection. 
Similar examples, from real life, should be produced to 
young people at proper times ; the testimony of men of 
acknowledged abilities, of men whom they have admired 
for genius, will come with peculiar force in favour of 
application. Parents well acquainted with literature, 
cannot be at a loss to find apposite illustrations. The 
Life of Franklin is an excellent example of persevering 
industry ; the variations in difterent editions of Vol- 
taire's dramatic poetry, and in Pope's works, are worth 
examining. All Sir Joshua Reynolds's eloquent aca- 
demical discourses enforce the doctrine of patience ; 
when he wants to prove to painters the value of con- 
tinual energetic attention, he quotes from Livy the char- 
acter of Philopoemen, one of the ablest generals of 
antiquity. So certain it is, that the same principle per- 
vades all superior minds : whatever may be their pur- 
suits, attention is the avowed primary cause of their 
success. These examples from the dead should be 
well supported by examples from among the living. 
In common life, occurrences can frequently be pointed 
out, in which attention and application are amply re- 
warded with success. 

It will encourage those who are interested in educa- 
tion, to observe, that two of the most difficult exercises 
of the iriind can, by practice, be rendered familiar, even 
by persons whom we do not consider as possessed of 
superior talents. Abstraction and transition — abstrac- 
tion, the power of withdrawing the attention from all 
external objects, and concentrating it upon some par- 
ticular set of ideas, we admire as one of the most diffi- 
cult exercises of the philosopher. Abstraction was for- 
merly considered as such a difficult and painful opera- 
tion, that it required perfect silence and solitude ; many 
ancient philosophers quarrelled with their senses, and 
shut themselves up in caves, to secure their attention 
from the distraction caused by external objects. But 
modern* philosophers have discovered, that neither 
caves nor lamps are essential to tlie full and successful 

* See Condillac, Art dePenser. 



ATTENTION. 87 

exercise of their mental powers. Persons of ordinary 
abilities, tradesmen and shopkeepers, in the midst of 
the tumult of a public city, in the noise of rumbUng 
carts and rattling carriages, amid the voices of a mul- 
titude of people talking upon various subjects, amid the 
provoking interruptions of continual questions and an- 
swers, and in the broad glare of a hot sun, can command 
and abstract their attention so far as to calculate yards, 
ells, and nails, to cast up long sums in addition right to 
a farthing, and to make out multifarious bills with quick 
and unerring precision. In almost all the dining-houses 
at Vienna, as a late traveller* informs us, " a bill of fare 
containing a vast collection of dishes is written out, and 
the prices are affixed to each article. As the people of 
Vienna are fond of variety, the calculation at the con- 
clusion of a repast would appear somewhat embarras- 
sing; this, however, is done by mechanical habit with 
great speed ; the custom is, for the party who has dined 
to name tiie dishes, and the quantity of bread and wine. 
The keller, who attends on this occasion, follows every 
article you name with the sum, which this adds to the 
calculation, and the whole is performed, to whatever 
amount, without ink or paper. It is curious to hear this 
ceremony, which is muttered with great gravity, yet 
performed with accuracy and despatch." 

We coolly observe, when we read these things, " Yes, 
this is all habit ; anybody who had used himself to it 
might do the same things." Yet the very same power 
of abstracting the attention, when employed upon scien- 
tific and literary subjects, would excite our astonish- 
ment ; and we should, perhaps, immediately attribute it 
to superior original genius. We may surely educate 
children to this habit of abstracting the attention, which 
we allow depends entirely upon practice. When we 
are very much interested upon any subject, we attend to 
it exclusively, and, without any effort, we surmount all 
petty interposing interruptions. When we are reading 
an interesting book, twenty people may converse round 
about us without our hearing one word that they say ; 
when we are in a crowded playhouse, the moment we 
become interested in the play the audience vanish from 
our sight, and in the midst of various noises, we hear 
only the voices of the actors. 

*Mr. Owen. 



88 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Ill the same manner, children, by their eager looks 
and their unaffected absence to all external circum- 
stances, show when they are thoroughly interested by 
any story that is told with eloquence suited to their 
age. When we would teach them to attend in the midst 
of noise and interruptions, we should begin by talking 
to them about things which we are sure will please them ; 
by degrees we may speak on less captivating subjects, 
when we perceive that their habit of beginning to listen 
with an expectation of pleasure is formed. Whenever 
a child happens to be intent upon any favourite amuse- 
ment, or when he is reading any very entertaining book, 
we may increase the busy hum around him, we may 
make what bustle we please, he will probably continue 
attentive ; it is useful therefore to give him such amuse- 
ments and such books when there is a noise or bustle in 
the room, because then he will learn to disregard all 
interruptions ; and when this habit is formed, he may 
even read less amusing books in the same company, 
without being interrupted by the usual noises. 

The power of abstracting our attention is universally 
allowed to be necessary to the successful labour of the 
understanding ; but we may further observe, that this 
abstraction is characteristic in some cases of heroism 
as well as of genius. Charles the Twelfth and Ar- 
chimedes were very different men; yet both, in similar 
circumstances, gave similar proofs of their uncommon 
power of abstracting their attention. " What has the 
bomb to do with what you are writing to Sweden," said 
the hero to his pale secretary when a bomb burst 
through the roof of his apartment, and he continued to 
dictate his letter. Archimedes went on with his de- 
monstration in the midst of a siege, and when a brutal 
soldier entered with a drawn sword, the philosopher 
only begged he might solve his problem before he were 
put to death. 

Presence of mind in danger, which is usually supposed 
to depend upon our quick perception of all the present 
circumstances, frequently demands a total abstraction 
of our thoughts. In danger, fear is the motive which 
excites our exertions ; but from all the ideas that fear 
naturally suggests, we must abstract our attention, or 
we shall not act with courage or prudence. In propor- 
tion to the violence of our terror, our voluntary exer- 
tion must be great to withdraw our thoughts from the 



ATTENTION. 89 

present danger, and to recollect the means of escape. 
In some cases, where the danger has been associated 
with the use of certain methods of escape, we use these 
without deliberation, and consequently without any 
effort of attention ; as when we see any thing catch 
fire, we instantly throw water upon the flames to ex- 
tinguish them. But in new situations, where we have 
no mechanical courage, we must exert much voluntary, 
quick, abstract attention, to escape from danger. 

When Lee, the poet, was confined in Bedlam, a friend 
went to visit him ; and finding that he could converse 
reasonably, or at least reasonably for a poet, imagined 
that Lee was cured of his madness. The poet offered 
to show him Bedlam. They went over this melancholy, 
medical prison, Lee moralizing philosophically enough 
all the time to keep his companion perfectly at ease. At 
length they ascended together to the top of the building ; 
and, as they were both looking down from the perilous 
height, Lee seized his friend by the arm ; " Let us im- 
mortalize ourselves !" he exclaimed ; " Let us take this 
leap. We'll jump down together this instant." — " Any 
man could jump down," said his friend, coolly ; " we 
should not immortalize ourselves by that leap ; but let 
us go down, and try if we can jump up again." The 
madman, struck with the idea of a more astonishing leap 
than that which he had himself proposed, yielded to this 
new impulse, and his friend rejoiced to see him run down 
stairs full of a new project for securing immortality. 

Lee's friend, upon this occasion, showed rather ab- 
sence than presence of mind : before he could have in- 
vented the happy answer that saved his life, he must 
have abstracted his mind from the passion of fear ; he 
must have rapidly turned his attention upon a variety 
of ideas unconnected by any former associations with 
the exciting motive — falling from a height — fractured 
sculls — certain death — impossibility of reasoning or 
wrestling with a madman. This was the train of 
thoughts which we might naturally expect to arise in 
such a situation, but from all these the man of presence 
of mind turned away his attention ; he must have di- 
rected his thoughts in a contrary line: first, he must have 
thought of the means of saving himself, of some argu- 
ment likely to persuade a madman, of some argument 
peculiarly suited to Lee's imagination, and applicable to 
his situation ; he must at this moment have considered 



90 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. ' 

that alarming situation without thinking of his fears ; 
for the interval in which all these ideas passed in his 
mind must have been so short, that he could not have 
had leisure to combat fear ; if any of the ideas associ- 
ated with that passion had interrupted his reasonings, he 
would not have invented his answer in time to have 
saved his life. 

We cannot foresee on what occasions presence of 
mind may be wanted, but we may, by education, give 
that general command of abstract attention, which is 
essential to its exercise in all circumstances. 

Transition of thought, the power of turning attention 
quickly to different subjects or employments, is another 
of those mental habits, which in some cases we call 
genius, and which in others we perceive depends entirely 
upon practice. A number of trials in one newspaper, 
upon a variety of unconnected subjects, once struck our 
eye, and we saw the name of a celebrated lawyer* as 
counsel in each cause. We could not help feehng in- 
voluntary admiration at that versatility of genius, which 
could pass from a fractional calculation about a London 
chaldron of coals, to the Jamaica laws of insurance ; 
from the bargains of a citizen, to the divorce of a fine 
lady ; from pathos to argument ; from arithmetic to wit ; 
from cross-examination to eloquence. For a moment 
we forgot our sober principles, and ascribed all this ver- 
satility of mind to natural genius ; but upon reflection 
we recurred to the belief, that this dexterity of intellect 
was not bestowed by nature. We observe in men who 
have no pretensions to genius, similar versatility of 
mind as to their usual employments. The daily occu- 
pations of Mr. Elwes's huntsman were as various and 
incongruous, and required as quick transitions of atten- 
tion, as any that can well be imagined. 

" Atf four o'clock he milked the cows ; then got 
breakfast for Mr. Ehves and friends ; then slipping on a 
green coat, he hurried into the stable, saddled the horses, 
got the hounds out of the kennel, and away they went 
into the field. After the fatigues of hunting, he refreshed 
himself, by rubbing down two or three horses as quickly 
as he could ; then running into the house to lay the 
cloth, and wait at dinner ; then hurrying again into the 

* Mr. Erskine— The Star. 

t See Life of John Elwes, Esq. by T. Topham. 



ATTENTION. 91 

stable to feed the horses, diversified with an interlude of 
the cows again to milk, the dogs to feed, and eight 
hunters to litter down for the night." Mr. Elwes used 
to call this huntsman an idle dog, who wanted to be 
paid for doing nothing ! 

We do not mean to require any such rapid daily- 
transitions in the exercise of attention from our pupils ; 
but we think that much may be done to improve ver- 
satility of mind, by a judicious arrangement of their 
occupations. When we are tired of smelling a rose, 
we can smell a carnation with pleasure ; and when the 
sense of smell is fatigued, j^et we can look at the beau- 
tiful colours with delight. When we are tired of think- 
ing upon one subject, we can attend to another ; when 
our memory is fatigued, the exercise of the imagination 
entertains us ; and when we are weary of reasoning, 
we can amuse ourselves with wit and humour. Men 
who have attended much to the cultivation of their 
mind, seem to have felt all this, and they have kept 
some subordinate taste as a refreshment after their 
labours. Descartes went from the system of the world 
to his flower-garden ; Galileo used to read Ariosto ; 
and the metaphysical Dr. Clarke recovered himself from 
abstraction by jumping over chairs and tables. The 
learned and indefatigable Chancellor d'Aguesseau de- 
clared, that change of employment was the only recre- 
ation he ever knew. Even Montaigne, who found his 
recreation in playing with his cat, educated himself 
better than those are educated who go from intense 
study to complete idleness. It has been very wisely 
recommended by Mr. Locke, that young people should 
early be taught some mechanical employment, or some 
agreeable art, to which they may recur for relief when 
they are tired by mental application.* 

Doctor Darwin supposes that " animal motions, or 
configurations of the organs of sense, constitute our 
ideas. 1 The fatigue, he observes, that follows a con- 
tinued attention of the mind to one object, is relieved by 
changing the subject of our thoughts, as the continued 
movement of one limb is relieved by moving another in 
its stead." Dr. Darwin has further suggested a tempt- 
ing subject of experiment in his theory of ocular spec- 

* See Chapter on Toys, 
t Zoonomia, vol. i. p. 21, 24, 



92 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

tra, to wliich we refer ingenious preceptors. Many 
useful experiments in education might be tried upon the 
principles which are there suggested. We dare not here 
trust ourselves to speculate upon this subject, because we 
are not at present provided with a sufficient number of 
facts to apply our theory to practice. If we could ex- 
actly discover how to arrange mental employments so 
as to induce actions in the antagonist faculties of the 
mind, we might relieve it from fatigue in the same man- 
ner as the eye is relieved by change of colour. By pur- 
suing this idea, might we not hope to cultivate the 
general power of attention to a degree of perfection 
hitherto unknown 1 

We have endeavoured to show how, by different ar- 
rangements and proper excitations, a preceptor may 
acquire that command over the attention of his pupils, 
which is absolutely essential to successful instruction; 
but we must recollect, that when the years commonly 
devoted to education are over, when young people are 
no longer under the care of a preceptor, they will con- 
tinue to feel the advantages of a commaodof attention, 
whenever they mix in the active business of life, or 
whenever they apply to any profession, to literature, or 
science. Their attention must now be entirely volun- 
tary ; they will have no tutor to excite them to exertion, 
no nice habitual arrangements to assist them in their 
daily occupations. It is of consequence, therefore, that 
we should substitute the power of voluntary, for the 
habit of associated attention. With young children 
we depend upon particular associations of place, time, 
and manner; upon different sorts of excitement, to pro- 
duce habits of employment : but as our pupils advance 
in their education, all these temporary excitements 
should be withdrawn. Some large, but distant object, 
some pursuit which is not to be rewarded with imme- 
diate praise, but rather with permanent advantage and 
esteem, should be held out to the ambition of youth. 
All the arrangements should be left to the pupil him- 
self ; all the difficulties should be surmounted by his own 
industry, and tlie interest he takes in his own success 
and improvement, will now probably be a sufficient 
stimulus ; his preceptor will now rather be his partner 
than his master, he should rather share the labour than 
attempt to direct it ; this species of sympathy in study 
diminishes the pain of attention, and gives an agreeable 



ATTENTION. 93 

interest even in the most tiresome researches. When a 
yomig man perceives that his preceptor becomes in this 
manner the companion of his exertions, he loses all sus- 
picion that he is compelled to mental labour ; it is im- 
proper to saj^ loses, for in a good education this sus- 
picion need not ever be created : he discovers, we 
should rather say, that all the habits of attention which 
he has acquired, are those which are useful to men as 
well as to children ; and he feels the advantage of his 
cultivated powers on every fresh occasion. He will 
perceive, that young men who have been ill educated, 
cannot, by any motive, command their vigorous atten- 
tion, and he will feel the cause of his own superiority, 
when he comes to any trial of skill with inattentive 
men of genius. 

One of the arguments which Bayle uses, to prove that 
fortune has a greater influence than prudence in the 
affairs of men, is founded upon the common observa- 
tion, that men of the best abilities cannot frequently re- 
collect, in urgent circumstances, what they have said 
or done; the things occur to them perhaps a moment 
after they are past. The fact seems to be, that they 
could not, in the proper moment, command their atten- 
tion ; but this we should attribute to the want of pru- 
dence in their early education. Thus, Bayle's argu- 
ment does not, in this point of view, prove any thing in 
favour of fortune. Those who can best command their 
attention, in the greatest variety of circumstances, have 
the most useful abilities ; without this command of 
mind, men of genius, as they are called, are hopeless 
beings ; with it, persons of inferior capacity become 
valuable. Addison trembled and doubted, and doubted 
and trembled, when he was to write a common ofllcial 
paper ; and it is said, that he was absolutely obliged to 
resign his place, because he could not decide in time 
whether he should write a that or a which. No business 
could have been transacted by such an imbecile minister. 

To substitute voluntary for associated attention, we 
may withdraw some of the usually associated circum- 
stances, and increase the excitement ; and we may after- 
ward accustom the pupil to act from the hope of distant 
pleasures. Unless children can be actuated by the view 
of future distant advantage, they cannot be capable of 
long-continued application. We shall endeavour to ex- 
plain how the value of distant pleasures can be increased, 



94 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and made to act with sufficient force upon tiie mind, 
when we hereafter speak of judgment and of imag* 
ination. 

It has been observed, that persons of wit and judg- 
ment have perhaps originally the same powers, and 
that the difference in their characters arises from their 
habits of attention, and the different class of objects to 
which they have turned their thoughts. The manner in 
which we are first taught to observe, and to reason, must 
in the first years of life decide these habits. There are 
two methods of teaching -. one which ascends from par- 
ticular facts to general principles ; the other which de- 
scends from the general principles to particular facts ; 
one which builds up, another which takes to pieces ; the 
synthetic and the analytic method. The words analysis 
and synthesis are frequently misapplied, and it is diffi- 
cult to write or to speak long about these methods with- 
out confounding them : in learning or in teaching we 
often use them alternately. We first observe particu- 
lars ; then form some general idea of classification; 
then descend again to new particulars, to observe 
whether they correspond with our principle. 

Children acquire knowledge, and their attention al- 
ternates from particular to general ideas, exactly in the 
same manner. It has been remarked, that men who 
have begun by forming suppositions, are inclined to 
adapt and to compress their consequent observations 
to the measure of their theories ; they have been negli- 
gent in collecting facts, and have not condescended to 
try experiments. This disposition of mind, during a 
long period of time, retarded improvement, and knowl- 
edge was confined to a few peremptory maxims and 
exclusive principles. Tlie necessity of collecting facts, 
and of trying experiments, was at length perceived ; and 
in all the sciences this mode has lately prevailed ; con- 
sequently, we have now on many subjects a treasure of 
accumulated facts. We are, in educating children, to 
put them in possession of all this knowledge ; and a 
judicious preceptor will wish to know, not only how 
these facts can be cfammed speedily into his pupil's 
memory, but what order of presenting them will be most 
advantageous to the understanding ; he will desire to 
cultivate his pupiFs faculties, that he may acquire new 
facts, and make new observations after all the old facts 
have been arranged in his mind. 



ATTENTION. 95 

fey a judicious arrangement of past experiments, and 
by the rejection of what are useless, an able instructer 
can show, in a small compass, what it has cost the 
labour of ages to accumulate ; he may teach in a few 
hours M'hat the most ingenious pupil, left to his own 
random efforts, could not have learned in many years. 
It would take up as much time to go over all the steps 
which have been made in ally science, as it originally 
cost the first discoverers. Simply to repeat all the 
fruitless experiments which have been made in chym- 
istry, for instance, would probably employ the longest 
life that ever was devoted to science ; nor would the 
individual have got one step forwarder ; he would die, 
and with him his recapitulated knowledge ; neither he 
nor the world would be the better for it. It is our 
business to save children all this useless labour, and all 
this waste of the power of attention. A pupil who is 
properly instructed, with the same quantity of attention, 
learns, perhaps, a hundred times as much in the same 
time, as he could acquire under the tuition of a learned 
preceptor ignorant in the art of teaching. 

The analytic and synthetic methods of instruction 
will both be found useful when judiciously employed. 
Where the enumeration of particulars fatigues the at- 
tention, we should, in teaching any science, begin by 
stating the general principles, and afterward produce 
only the facts essential to their illustration and proof. 
But wherever we have not accumulated a sufficient 
number of facts to be accurately certain of any general 
principle, we must, however tedious the task, enumerate 
all the facts that are knowqi, and warn the pupil of the 
imperfect state of the science. All the facts must, in 
this case, be stored up with scrupulous accuracy ; we 
cannot determine which are unimportant, and which 
may prove essentially useful : this can be decided only 
by future experiments. By thus stating honestly to our 
pupils the extent of our ignorance, as well as the extent 
of our knowledge ; by thus directing attention to the im- 
perfections of science, rather than to the study of theo- 
ries, we shall avoid the just reproaches which have been 
thrown upon the dogmatic vanity of learned preceptors. 

" For as knowledges are now," says Bacon, " there 
is a kind of contract of error between the deliverer and 
receiver; for he that delivereth knowledge, dcsireth to 
deliver it in such a form as may be best believed, and 



96 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

not as may be best examined ; and he that receiveth 
knowledge, desireth rather present satisfaction than ex- 
pectant inquiry ; and so rather not to doubt than not to 
err ; glory making the author not to lay open his weak- 
ness, and sloth making the disciple not to know his 
strength."* 



CHAPTER IV. 

SERVANTS. 

" Now, master,"! said a fond nurse to her favourite 
boy, after having given him sugared bread and butter 
for supper, " now, master, kiss -me ; wipe your mouth, 
dear, and go up to the drawing-room to mamma ; and 
when mistress asks you what you have had for supper, 
you'll say, bread and butter, for you have had bread 
and butter, you know, master." — " And sugar," said the 
boy ; " I must say bread and butter, and sugar, you know." 

How few children would have had the courage to 
have added, " and sugar !" How dangerous it is to ex- 
pose them to such temptations ! The boy must have 
immediately perceived the object of the nurse's casu- 
istry. He must guess that she would be blamed for the 
addition of the sugar, else why should she wish to sup- 
press the word ! His gratitude is engaged to his nurse 
for running this risk to indulge him ; his mother, by 
the force of contrast, appears a severe person, who, 
for no reason that he can comprehend, would deprive 
him of the innocent pleasure of eating sugar. As to 
its making him sick, he has eaten it, and he is not sick ; 
as to its spoiling his teeth, he does not care about his 
teeth, and he sees no immediate change in them : there- 
fore he concludes that his mother's orders are capricious, 
and that his nurse loves him better because she gives 
him the most pleasure. His honour and affection to- 
wards his nurse are immediately set in opposition to 
his duty to his mother. What a hopeful beginning in 
education ! What a number of dangerous ideas may be 
given by a single word ! 

* Bacon, vol. i. p. 84. 

+ Verbatim from what has been really said to a boy 



SERVANTS. 97 

The taste for sugared bread and butter is soon over ; 
but servants have it in their pov^^er to excite other tastes 
with premature and factitious enthusiasm. The waiting- 
maid, a taste for dress ; the footman, a taste for gaming ; 
the coachman and groom, for horses and equipage ; and 
the butler, for wine. The simplicity of children is not 
a defence to them ; and though they are totally ignorant 
of vice, they are exposed to adopt the principles of 
those with whom they hve, even before they can apply 
them to their own conduct. 

The young son of a lady of quality, a boy of six or 
seven years old, addressed, with great simplicity, the 
following speech to a lady who visited his mother. 

Boy. Miss N , I wish you could find somebody, 

when you go to London, who would keep you. It's 
a very good thing to be kept. 

Lady. What do you mean, my dear? 

Boy. Why it's when — you know, when a person's 
kept, they have every thing found for them ; their friend 
saves them all trouble, you know. They have a car- 
nage and diamonds, and every thing they want. I wish 
somebody would keep you. 

Lady, (laughing.) But I'm afraid nobody would. Do 
you think anybody would "? 

Boy. (after a pause.) Why yes, I think Sir « 

naming a gentleman whose name had, at this time, been 
much talked of in a public trial, would be as likely as 
anybody. 

The same boy talked familiarly of phaetons and gigs, 
and wished that he was grown up, that he might drive 
four horses in hand. It is obvious that these ideas were 
put into the boy's head by the servants with whom he 
associated. 

Without supposing them to be profligate, servants, 
from their situation, from all that they see of the society 
of their superiors, and from the early prejudices of their 
own education, learn to admire that wealth and rank to 
which they are bound to pay homage. The luxuries 
and follies of fashionable life they mistake for happiness ; 
they measure the respect they pay to strangers by their 
external appearance ; they value their own masters and 
mistresses by the same standard ; and in their attach- 
ment there is a necessary mixture of that sympathy 
which is sacred to prosperity. Setting aside all in- 
terested motives, servants love show and prodigality in 
E 



98 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their masters ; they feel that they partake the triumph, 
and they wish it to be as magnificent as possible. These 
dispositions break out naturally in the conversation of 
servants with one another ; if children are suffered to 
hear them, they will quickly catch the same tastes. But 
if these ideas break out in their unpremeditated gossiping 
with one another, how much more strongly will they 
be expressed when servants wish to ingratiate them- 
selves into a child's affections by flattery ! Their 
method of showing their attachment to a family, is 
usually to exaggerate in their expressions of admiration 
of its consequence and grandeur ; they deprecate all 
whom they imagine to be competitors in any respect 
with their masters, and feed and foster the little jeal- 
ousies which exist between neighbouring families. The 
children of these families are thus early set at variance ; 
the children in the same family are often taught, by the 
imprudence or malice of servtints, to dislike and envy 
each other. In houses where each child has an attend- 
ant, the attendants regularly quarrel, and out of a show 
of zeal, make their young masters and mistresses parties 
in their animosity. Three or four maids sometimes 
produce their little dressed pupils for a few minutes to 
the company in the drawing-room, for the express pur- 
pose of seeing which shall obtain the greatest share of 
admiration. This competition, which begins in their 
nurses' arms, is continued by daily artifices through the 
whole course of their nursery education. Thus the 
emulation of children is rendered a torment to them, 
their ambition is directed to absurd and vile purposes, 
the understanding is perverted, their temper is spoiled, 
their simplicity of mind, and their capability of enjoying 
happiness, nmterially injured. 

The language and manners, the awkward and vulgar 
tricks which children learn in the society of servants, 
are immediately perceived, and disgust and shock well- 
bred parents. This is an evil which is striking and 
disgraceful ; it is more likely to be remedied than those 
which are more secret and slow in their operation : 
the habits of cunning, falsehood, envy, which lurk in 
the temper, are not instantly visible to strangers ; they 
do not appear the moment children are reviewed by their 
parents ; they may remain for years without notice or 
without cure. 

All these things have been said a hundred times; and 



SERVANTS, 99 

what is more, they are universally acknowledged to be 
true. It has passed into a common maxim with all who 
reflect, and even with all who speak upon the subject 
of education, that " it is the worst thing in the world to 
leave children with servants." But, notwithstanding this, 
eachperson imagines that he has found some lucky excep- 
tion to the general rule. There is some favourite maid 
or phenix of a footman in each family, who is supposed 
to be unlike all other servants, and, therefore, qualified 
for the education of children. But, if their qualihca- 
tions were scrupulously examined, it is to be feared they 
would not be found competent to the trust that is re- 
posed in them. They may, nevertheless, be excellent 
servants, much attached to their masters and mistresses, 
and sincerely desirous to obey their orders in the man- 
agement of their pupils ; but this is not sufficient. In 
education it is not enough to obey the laws ; it is ne- 
cessary to understand them ; to understand the spirit, as 
well as the letter of the law. The blind application of 
general maxims will never succeed; and can that nice 
discrimination which is necessary to the just use of good 
principles, be expected from those who have never 
studied the human mind, who have little motive for the 
study, whose knowledge is technical, and who have 
never had any liberal education? Give, or attempt to 
give, the best waiting-maid in London the general 
maxim, " That pain should be associated with whatever 
we wish to make children avoid doing ; and pleasure 
should be associated with whatever we wish that children 
should love to do ;" will the waiting-maid understand 
this, even if you exchange the word associated {om joined? 
How will she apply her new principle in practice ? She 
will probably translate it into, " Whip the child when it 
is troublesome, and give it sweetmeats when it does as 
it is bid." With this compendious system of tuition 
she is well satisfied, especially as it contains nothing 
which is new to her understanding, or foreign to her 
habits. But if we should expect her to enter into the 
views of a Locke or a Barbauld, would it not be at once 
unreasonable and ridiculous ! 

What has been said of the understanding and disposi- 
tions of servants, relates only to servants as they are 
now educated. Their vices and their ignorance arise 
from the same causes, the want of education. They are 
not a separate caste in society, doomed to ignorance, or 
E2 



100 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

degraded by inherent vice ; they are capable, they are 
desirous of instruction. Let them be well educated,* 
and the difference in their conduct and understanding 
will repay society for the trouble of the undertaking. 
This education must begin as early as possible ; let us 
not imagine that it is practicable to change the habits 
of servants who are already educated, and to make them 
suddenly fit companions in a family. They should not, 
in any degree, be permitted to interfere with the man- 
agement of children, until their own education has been 
radically reformed. Let servants be treated with the 
utmost kindness ; let their situations be made as happy 
as possible ; let the reward of their services and attach- 
ment be as liberal as possible ; but reward with justice ; 
do not sacrifice your children to pay your own debts. 
Familiarity between servants and cliildren cannot per- 
manently increase the happiness of either party. Chil- 
dren who have early lived with servants, as they grow 
up are notoriously apt to become capricious and tyran- 
nical masters. A boy who has been used to treat a 
footman as his playfellow, cannot suddenly command 
from him that species of deference which is compounded 
of habitual respect for the person, and conventional sub- 
ini;ssion to his station; the young master must, there- 
fore, effect a change in his footman's manner of think- 
hig and speaking by violent means ; he must extort that 
tribute of respect which he has neglected so long, and 
to which, consequently, his right is disputed.! He is 
sensible that his superiority is merely that of situation, 
and he therefore exerts his dormant prerogatives with 
jealous insolence. No master is so likely to become 
the tyrant of his valet-de-chambre as he who is con- 
scious that he never can appear to him a hero. No ser- 
vant feels the yoke of servitude more galling, than he 
who has been partially emancipated ; who has lost his 
liabits of " proud subordination, and his taste for digni- 
fied submission."! 

No mistaken motive of tenderness to domestics should 
operate upon the minds of parents ; nor should they 

* Perhaps an institution for the education of attendants upon chil- 
dren would be of the highest utiUty. 

Mr. had once an intention of educating forty children for this 

purpose ; from among whom he proposed to select eight or ten as 
mooters for future schools upon the same plan. 

] See the comedy of Wild Oats. % Burke. 



SERVANTS. 101 

hesitate, for the general happiness of their families, to 
insist upon a total separation between those parts of it 
which will injure each other essentially by their union. 

Everybody readily disclaims the idea of letting- chil- 
dren live with servants ; but, besides the exceptions in 
favour of particular individuals, there is yet another 
cause of the difference between theory and practice upon 
this subject. Time is left out of the consideration ; 
people forget that hfe is made up of days and hours ; 
and they by no means think that letting children pass 
several hours every day with servants has any thing to 
do with the idea of living with them. We must contract 
this latitude of expression. If children pass one hour 
in a day with servants, it will be in vain to attempt their 
education. 

Madame Roland, in one of her letters to De Bosc, says 
that her little daughter Eudora had learned to swear ; 
" And yet," continues she, " I leave her but one half 
hour a day with servants. Admirez la disposition !" 
Madame Roland could not have been much accustomed 
to attend to education. 

While children are very young, there appears a ne- 
cessity for their spending at least half an hour a day with 
servants ; until they are four or five years old, they can- 
not dress or undress themselves, or, if they attempt it, 
they may learn careless habits, which in girls are par- 
ticularly to be avoided. If a mother, or a governess, 
would make it a rule to be present when they are dres- 
sing, a maidservant would not talk to them, and could 
do them but little injury. It is of consequence that the 
maidservant should herself be perfectly neat, both from 
habit and taste. Children observe exactly the manner 
in which every thing is done for them, and have the 
wish, even before they have the power, to imitate what 
they see ; they love order, if they are accustomed to it, 
and if their first attempts at arrangement are not made 
irksome by injudicious management. What they see 
done every day in a particular manner, they learn to 
think part of the business of the day, and they are un- 
easy if any of the rites of cleanliness are forgotten ; the 
transition from this uneasiness to the desire of exerting 
themselves, is soon made, particularly if they are some- 
times left to feel the inconveniences of being helpless. 
This should, and can be done, without affectation. A 
maid cannot be always ready, the instant she is wanted, 



102 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

to attend upon them ; they sliould not be waited upon 
as being masters and misses, they should be assisted as 
being helpless.* They will not feel their vanity flat- 
tered by this attendance; the maid will not be suffered 
to amuse them, they will be ambitious of independence, 
and they will soon be proud of doing every thing for 
themselves. 

Another circumstance which keeps cliildren long in 
subjection to servants is, their not being able to wield a 
knife, fork, or spoon, with decent dexterity. Such hab- 
its are taught to them by the careless maids who feed 
them, that they cannot for many years be produced even 
at the side-table without much inconvenience and con- 
stant anxiety. If this anxiety in a mother were to begin 
a little sooner, it need never be intense ; patient care in 
feeding children neatly at first, will save many a bitter 
reprimand afterward ; their little mouths and hands need 
not be disgusting at their meals, and their nurses had 
better take care not to let them touch what is disagree- 
able, instead of rubbing their lips rudely with a rough 
napkin, by way of making them love to have their mouths 
clean. These minutiae must, in spite of didactic dignity, 
be noticed, because they lead to things of greater con- 
sequence ; they are well worth the attention of a pru- 
dent mother or governess. If children are early taught 
to eat with care, they will not, from false shame, desire 
to dinef with the vulgar indulgent nursery-maid, rather 
than with the fastidious company at their mother's 
table. Children should first be taught to eat with a 
spoon M^hat has been neatly cut for them ; afterward 
they should cut a little meat for themselves towards the 
end of dinner, when the rage of hunger is appeased ; 
they will then have " leisure to be good." The several 
operations of learning to eat with a spoon, to cut and to 
eat with a knife and fork, will become easy and habit- 
ual, if sufficient time be allowed. 

Several children in a family, who were early attended 
to in all these little particulars, were produced at table 
when they were four or five years old ; they suflered no 
constraint, nor were they ever banished to the nursery 
lest company should detect their evil habits. Their eyes 
and ears were at liberty during the time of dinner ; and 
instead of being absorbed in the contemplation of their 

* Rousseau. t See Sancho Panza. 



SERVANTS. 103 

plates, and at war with themselves and their neighbours, 
they could listen to conversation, and were amused even 
•while they were eating. Without meaning to assert, 
with Rousseau, that all children are naturally gluttons 
or epicures, we must observe that eating is their first 
great and natural pleasure ; this pleasure should, there- 
fore, be entirely at the disposal of those who have the 
care of their education ; it should be associated with 
the idea of their tutors or governesses. A governess 
may, perhaps, disdain to use' the same means to make 
herself beloved by a child, as those which are employed 
by a nursery-maid ; nor is it meant that children should 
be governed by their love of eating. Eating need not 
be made a reward, nor should we restrain their appetite 
as a punishment; praise and blame, and a variety of 
other excitements, must be preferred when we want to 
act upon their understanding. Upon this subject we 
shall speak more fully hereafter. All that is here meant 
to be pointed out is, that the mere physical pleasure of 
eating should not be associated in the minds of children 
with servants ; it should not be at the disposal of ser- 
vants ; because they may, in some degree, balance by 
this pleasure the other motives which a tutor may wish 
to put in action. " Solid pudding," as well as " empty 
praise," should be in the gift of the preceptor. 

Besides the pleasures of the table, there are many 
others which usually are associated early with ser- 
vants. After children have been pent in a close formal 
drawing-room, motionless and mute, they are frequently 
dismissed to an apartment where there is no furniture 
too fine to be touched with impunity, where there is 
ample space, where they may jump and sing, and make 
as much noise as can be borne by the much-enduring 
ear-drum of the nursery-maid. Children think this in- 
sensibility of ear a most valuable qualification in any 
person ; they have no sympathy with more refined audi- 
tory nerves, and they prefer the company of those who 
are to them the best hearers. A medium between their 
taste and that of their parents should, in this instance, 
be struck ; parents should not insist upon eternal silence, 
and children should not be suffered to make mere noise 
essential to their entertainment. Children should be 
encouraged to talk at proper times, and should have oc- 
cupations provided for them when they are required to 
be still ; by these means it will not be a restraint to 



104 rr.ACTicAL education'. 

them to stay in the same room with tlie rest of the fam- 
ily for some hours in the day. At other times they 
should have free leave to run about, either in rooms 
where they cannot disturb others, or out of doors ; in 
neither case should they be with servants. Children 
should never be sent out to walk with servants. 

After they have been poring over their lessons, or 
stiflfening under the eye of their preceptors, they are 
frequently consigned immediately to the ready footman ; 
they cluster around him for their hats, their gloves, their 
little boots and whips, and all the well known signals 
of pleasure. The hall door bursts open, and they sally 
forth under the interregnum of this beloved protector, 
to enjoy life and liberty ; all the natural, and all the fac- 
titious ideas of the love of liberty, are connected with 
this distinct part of the day ; the fresh air — the green 
fields— the busy streets — the gay shops — the variety of 
objects which the children see and hear — the freedom 
of their tongues — the joys of bodily exercise, and of 
mental relaxation, all conspire to make them prefer this 
period of the day, which they spend with the footman, 
to any other in the four-and-twenty hours. The foot- 
man sees, and is flattered by this ; he is therefore assid- 
uous to please, and piques himself upon being more in- 
dulgent than the hated preceptor. Servants usually 
wish to make themselves beloved by children : can it 
be wondered at if they succeed, when we consider the 
power that is thrown into their hands 1 

In towns, children have no gardens, no place where 
they can take that degree of exercise which is neces- 
sary for their health ; this tempts their parents to trust 
them to servants, when they cannot walk with them 
themselves : but is there no individual in the family, 
neither tutor, nor governess, nor friend, nor brother, 
nor sister, who can undertake this daily charge 1 Can- 
not parents sacrifice some of their amusements in town, 
or cannot they live in the country? If none of these 
things can be done, without hesitation they should pre- 
fer a public to a private education. In these circum- 
stances, they cannot educate their children at home ; 
they had much better not attempt it, but send them at 
once to school. 

In the country, arrangements may easily be made, 
which will preclude all those little dangers which fill a 
prudent parent's mind with anxiety. Here children 



SERVANTS. 105 

want the care of no servant to walk out with them ; 
they can have gardens, and safe places for exercise 
allotted to them. In rainy weather, they can have 
rooms apart from the rest of the family ; they need not 
be cooped up in an ill-contrived house, where servants 
are perpetually in their way. 

Attention to the arrangement of a house is of mate- 
rial consequence. Children's rooms should not be pas- 
sage rooms for servants ; they should, on the contrary, 
be so situated, that servants cannot easily have access 
to them, and cannot, on any pretence of business, get 
the habit of frequenting them. Some fixed employment 
should be provided for children, which will keep them 
in a different part of the house, at those hours when 
servants must necessarily be in their bedchambers. 
There will be a great advantage in teaching children to 
arrange their own rooms, because this will prevent the 
necessity of servants being for any length of time in 
their apartments; their things will not be mislaid ; their 
playthings will not be swept away or broken ; no little 
temptations \vill arise to ask questions from servants ; 
all necessity, and all opportunity of intercourse, will 
thus be cut off. Children should never be sent with 
messages to servants, either on their own business or 
on other people's ; if they are permitted at any times to 
speak to them, they will not distinguish v/hat times are 
proper and what are improper. 

Servants have so much the habit of talking to chil- 
dren, and think it such a proof of good-nature to be in- 
terested about them, that it will be difficult to make 
them submit to this total silence and separation. The 
certainty that they shall lose their places, if they break 
through the regulations of the family, will, however, be 
a strong motive, provided that their places are agreea- 
ble and advantageous ; and parents should be absolutely 
strict in this particular. What is the loss of the service 
of a good groom, or a good butler, compared with the 
danger of spoiling a child ? It may be feared that some 
secret intercourse should be carried on between children 
and servants ; but this will be lessened by the arrange- 
ments in the house, which we have mentioned ; by care 
in a mother or governess, to know exactly where chil- 
dren are and what they are doing, every hour of the 
day ; this need not to be a daily anxiety, for when cer- 
tain hours have once been fixed for certain occupations, 
E3 



106 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

habit is our friend, and we cannot have a safer. There 
is this ^reat advantage in measures of precaution and 
prevention, that they diminish all temptation, at the 
same time that they strena^then the habits of obedience. 

Other circumstances will deter servants from running- 
any hazard themselves ; they will not be so fond of chil- 
dren who do not live with them ; they will consider them 
as beings moving in a different sphere. Children who 
are at ease with their parents, and happy in their com- 
pany, will not seek inferior society ; this will be attrib- 
uted to pride by servants, who will not like them for 
this reserve. So much the better. Children who are 
encouraged to converse about every thing that interests 
them, will naturally tell their mothers if any one talks 
to them ; a servant's speaking to them would be an ex- 
traordinary event to be recorded in the history of the 
day. The idea that it is dishonourable to tell tales, 
should never be put into their minds ; they will never 
be the spies of servants, nor should they keep their se- 
crets. Thus, as there is no faith expected from the 
children, the servants will not trust them ; they will be 
certain of detection, and will not transgress the laws. 

It may not be impertinent to conclude these minute 
precepts with assuring parents, that in a numerous fam- 
ily, where they have above twenty years been steadily 
abserved, success has been the uniform result. 



CHAPTER V. 

ACQUAINTANCE. 

" The charming little dears !" exclaims a civil ac- 
quaintance, the moment the children are introduced. 
*' Won't you come to me, love V At this question, per- 
haps, the bashful child backs towards its nurse or its 
mother ; but in vain. Rejected at this trying crisis by 
its natural protectors, it is pushed forward into the mid- 
dle of the circle, and all prospect of retreat being cut 
off, the victorious stranger seizes upon her little victim, 
whom she seats, without a struggle, upon her lap. To 
win the affections of her captive, the lady begins by a 



ACQUAINTANCE. 107 

direct appeal to personal vanity : " Who curls this 
pretty hair of yours, my dear ] Won't you let me look 
at your nice new red shoes ? What shall I give you for 
that fine colour in your cheeks 1 Let us see what we 
can find in my pocket !" 

Among the pocket-bribes, the lady never fails to se- 
lect the most useless trinkets ; the child would make 
a better choice ; for, if there should appear a pocket- 
book, which may be drawn up by a riband from its slip 
case, a screen that would unfold gradually into a green 
star, a pocket-fan, or a toothpick case with a spring 
lock, the child would seize upon these wilh delight ; but 
the moment its attention is fixed, it is interrupted by the 
officious exclamation of, " Oh, let me do that for you, 
love ! Let me open that for you, you'll break your 
sweet little nails. Ha ! there is a looking-glass ; whose 
pretty face is that 1 but we don't love people for being 
pretty, you know (mamma says I must not tell you 
you are pretty) ; but we love little girls for being good, 
and I am sure you look as if you were never naughty. 
I am sure you don't know what it is to be naughty ; will 
you give me one kiss ] and vvill you hold out your pretty 
little hand for some sugarplums'? Mamma shakes her 
head, but mamma will not be angry, though mamma can 
refuse you nothing, I'll answer for it. Who spoils you 1 
Whose favourite are you? Who do you love best in 
the world 1 And will you love me "? And will you come 
and live with me 1 Shall I carry you away with me in 
the coach to-night T Oh ! but I'm afraid I should eat 
you up, and then what would mamma say to us both V 

To stop this torrent of nonsense, the child's mother, 
perhaps, ventures to interfere with, " My dear, I'm 
afraid you'll be troublesome." But this produces only 
vehement assertions to the contrary. " The dear little 
creature can never be troublesome to anybody." Wo 
be to the child who implicitU' believes this assertion ! 
frequent rebuffs from his friends must be endured before 
this error will be thoroughly rectified : this will not tend 
to make those friends more agreeable or more beloved. 
That childish love, which varies from hour to hour, is 
scarcely worth consideration ; it cannot be an object of 
competition to any reasonable person ; but in early edu- 
cation nothing must be thought beneath our attention. 
A child does not retain much affection, it is true, for 
every casual visitei: by whom he is flattered and ca-. 



108 PRACTICAL EDUCATION* 

ressed. The individuals are here to-day and gone to- 
morrow ; variety prevents the impression from sinking 
into the mind, it may be said ; but the general impression 
remains, though each particular stroke is not seen. 
Young children who are much caressed in company, 
are less intent than others upon pleasing those they live 
with, and they are also less independent in their occu- 
pations and pleasures. Those who govern such pupils 
have not sufficient power over them, because they have 
not the means of giving pleasure ; because their praise 
or blame is frequently counteracted by applause of vis- 
iters. That unbroken course of experience, which is 
necessary for the success of a regular plan of education, 
cannot be preserved. Everybody may have observed 
the effect which the extraordinary notice of strangers 
produces upon children. After the day is over, and the 
company has left the house, there is a cold blank ; a 
melancholy silence. The children then sink into them- 
selves, and feel the mortifying change in their situation. 
They look with dislike upon every thing around them ; 
yawn with ennui, or fidget with fretfulness, till, on the 
first check which they meet with, their secret discon- 
tent bursts forth into a storm. Resistance, caprice, and 
peevishness, are not borne with patience by a gov- 
erness, though they are submitted to with smiles by the 
complaisant visiter. In the same day, the same conduct 
produces totally different consequences. Experience, 
it is said, makes fools wise ; but such experience as this 
makes wise children fools. 

Why is this farce of civility, which disgusts all parties, 
continually repeated between visiters and children? 
Visiters would willingly be excused from the trouble of 
flattering and spoiling them ; but such is the spell of 
custom, that no one dares to break it, even when every 
one feels that it is absurd. 

Children who are thought to be clever, are often pro- 
duced to entertain company ; they fill up the time, and 
relieve the circle from that embarrassing silence which 
proceeds from the having nothing to say. Boys who 
are thus brought forward at six or seven years old, and 
encouraged to say what are called smart things, seldom, 
as they grow up, have really good understandings. 
Children, who, like the fools in former times, are per- 
mitted to say every thing, now and then blurt out those 
simple truths which politeness conceals : this enter- 



ACQUAINTANCE. 109 

tains people, but, in fact, it is a sort of naivete, which 
may exist without any great talent for observation, and 
without any powers of reasoning-. Every thing in our 
manners, in the customs of the world, is new to chil- 
dren, and the relations of apparently dissimilar things, 
strike them immediately from their novelty. Children 
are often witty, without knowing it, or rather without 
intending it ; but as they grow older, the same kind of 
wit does not please ; the same objects do not appear in 
the same point of view ; and boys who have been the 
delight of a whole house at seven or eight years old, for 
the smart things they could say, sink into stupidity and 
despondency at thirteen or fourteen. " Un nom trop 
fameux, est m\ fardeau tres pesant," said a cele- 
brated wit. 

Plain, sober sense, does not entertain common visiters, 
and children whose minds are occupied, and who are 
not ambitious of exhibiting themselves for the enter- 
tainment of the company, will not in general please. 
So much the better ; they will escape many dangers ; 
not only the dangers of flattery, but also the dangers 
of nonsense. Few people know how to converse with 
children ; they talk to them of things that are above or 
below their understandings ; if they argue with them, 
they do not reason fairly ; they silence them with sen- 
timent or with authority ; or else they baffle them by 
wit or by unintelligible terms. They often attempt to 
try their capacities with quibbles and silly puzzles. 
Children who are expert at answering these, have rarely 
been well educated : the extreme simplicity of sensible 
children will surprise those who have not been accus- 
tomed to it, and many will be provoked by their in- 
aptitude to understand the commonplace wit of con- 
versation. 

" How many sticks go to a rook's nest V said a gentle- 
man to a boy of seven years old ; he looked very grave, 
jand having pondered upon the question for some min- 
utes, answered " I do not know what you mean by the 
word go." Fortunately for the boy, the gentleman who 
asked the question was not a captious querist ; he per- 
ceived the good sense of this answer ; he perceived that 
the boy had exactly hit upon the ambiguous word which 
was puzzling to the understanding, and he saw that this 
showed more capacity than could have been shown by 
the parrying of a thousand witticisms. We have seen 



110 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

S , a remarkably intelligent boy of nine years old, 

stand with the most puzzled face imaginable, consider- 
ing for a long half hour the common quibble of " There 
was a carpenter who made a door; he made it too 
large ; he cut it and cut it, and he cut it too little ; he cut 
it again, and it fitted." S showed very little satis- 
faction when he at length discovered the double mean- 
ing of the words "■ too little ;" but simply said, " I did 
not know that you meant that the carpenter cut too little 
off the door." 

" Which has most legs, a horse or no horse 1" — " A 
horse has more legs than no horse," replied the unwary 
child. " But," continues the witty sophist, " a horse, 
surely, has but four legs ; did you ever see a horse with 
five legs 1" — " Never," says the child ; " no horse has 
five legs." — " Oh, ho !" exclaims the entrapper, " I have 
you now ! No horse has five legs, you say ; then you must 
acknowledge that no horse has more legs than a horse. 
Therefore, when 1 asked you which has most legs, a 
horse or no horse, your answer, you see, should have 
been, no horsed 

The famous dilemma of "you have what you have 
not lost ; you have not lost horns ; then you have 
horns ;" is much in the same style of reasoning. Chil- 
dren may readily be taught to chop logic, and to parry 
their adversaries technically in this contest of false wit ; 
but this will not improve their understandings, though it 
may, to superficial judges, give them the appearance of 
great quickness of intellect. We should not, even in 
jest, talk of nonsense to children, or suff'er them even to 
hear inaccurate language. If confused answers be 
given to their questions, they will soon be content with 
a confused notion of things ; they will be satisfied with 
bad reasoning, if they are not taught to distinguish it 
scrupulously from what is good, and to reject it steadily. 
Half the expressions current in conversation have 
merely a nominal value; they represent no ideas, and 
they pass merely by common courtesy : but the lan- 
guage of every person of sense has sterling value; it 
cheats and puzzles nobody ; and even when it is ad- 
dressed to children, it is made intelligible. No common 
acquaintance, who talks to a child merely for its own 
amusement, selects his expressions with any care ; what 
becomes of the child afterward is no part of his con- 
cern ; he does not consider the advantage of clear ex- 



ACQUAINTANCE. Ill 

planations to the understanding, nor would he be at the 
pains of explaining any thing thoroughly, even if he 
were able to do so. And how few people are able to 
explain distinctly, even when they most wish to make 
themselves understood I 

The following conversation passed between a learned 
doctor (formerly) of the Sorbonne, and a boy of seven 
years old. 

Doctor, So, sir, I see you are very advanced already 
in your studies. You are quite expert at Latin. Pray, 
sir, allow me to ask you ; 1 suppose you have heard of 
Tally's Offices ? 

Boy. Tuily's Offices ! No, sir. 

Doctor. No matter. You can, I will venture to say, 
solve me the following question. It is not very difficult, 
but it has puzzled some abler casuists, 1 can tell you, 
though, than you or I ; but if you will lend me your at- 
tention for a few moments, I flatter myself I shall make 
myself intelligible to you. 

The boy began to stiffen at this exordium, but he 
fixed himself in an attitude of anxious attention, and the 
doctor, after having taken two pinches of snuff, pro- 
ceeded : 

" In the Island of Rhodes, there was once, formerly, 
a great scarcity of provisions, a famine quite ; and some 
merchants fitted out ten ships to relieve the Rhodians ; 
and one of the merchants got into port sooner than the 
others ; and he took advantage of this circumstance to 
sell his goods at an exorbitant rate, finding himself in 
possession of the market. The Rhodians did not know 
that the other ships laden with provisions were to be in 
the next day ; and they, of course, paid this merchant 
whatsoever price he thought proper to demand. Now 
the question is, in morality, whether did he act the part 
of an honest man in this business by the Rhodians 1 Or 
should he not rather have informed them of the nine 
ships which were expected to come with provisions to 
the market the ensuing day V 

The boy was silent, and did not appear to compre- 
hend the story or the question in the least. In telling 
his story, the doctor of the Sorbonne unluckily pro- 
nounced the word ship and ships in such a manner, that 
the child all along mistook them for sheep and sheeps ; 
and this mistake threw every thing into confusion. Be- 
sides this, a number of terms were made use of which 



112 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

were quite new to the boy. Getting into port — being 
in possession of the market — selling goods at an ex- 
orbitant rate ; together with the whole mystery of buy- 
ing and selling, were as new to him, and appeared to 
him as difficult to be understood, as the most abstract 
metaphysics. He did not even know what was meant 
by the ships being expected in the next day ; and " act- 
ing the part of an honest man,*" was to him an unusual 
mode of expression. The young casuist made no hand 
of this case of conscience ; when at last he attempted 
an answer, he only exposed himself to the contempt of 
the learned doctor. When he was desired to repeat the 
story, he made a strange jumble about some people who 
wanted to get some sheep, and about one man who got 
in his sheep before the other nine sheep ; but he did not 
know how or why it was wrong in him not to tell of the 
other sheep. Nor could he imagine why the Rhodians 
could not get sheep without this man. He had never 
had any idea of a famine. This boy's father, unwilhng 
that he should retire to rest with his intellects in this 
state of confusion, as soon as the doctor had taken leave, 
told the story to the child in diiferent words, to try 
whether it was the words or the ideas that puzzled 
hira. 

" In the ^gean sea, which you saw the other day in 
the map, there is an island, which is called the Island 
of Rhodes. In telUng my story, I take the opportunity 
to fix a point in geography in your memory. In the 
^gean sea there is an island which is called the Island 
of Rhodes. There was once a famine in this island, that 
is to say, the people had not food enough to live upon, 
and they were afraid that they should be starved to 
death. Now, some merchants, who lived on the con- 
tinent of Greece, filled ten ships with provisions, and 
they sailed in these vessels for the Island of Rhodes. 
It happened that one of these ships got to the island 
sooner than any of the others. It was evening, and the 
captain of this ship knew that the others could not 
arrive until the morning. Now the people of Rhodes, 
being extremely hungry, were very eager to buy the pro- 
visions which this merchant had brought to sell ; and they 
M^ere ready to give a great deal more money for pro- 
visions than they would have done, if they had not been 
almost starved. There was not half a sufficient quantity 
of food in this one ship to supply all the people who 



ACQUAINTANCE. 113 

wanted food ; and therefore those who had money, and 
who knew that the merchant wanted as nmch money 
as he could get in exchange for his provisions, offered 
to give him a large price, the price which he asked for 
them. Had these people known that nine other ships 
full of provisions would arrive in the morning, they 
would not have been ready to give so much money 
for food, because they would not have been so much 
afraid of being starved ; and they would not have 
known, that, in exchange for their money, they could 
have a greater quantity of food the next day. The 
merchant, however, did not tell them that any ships 
were expected to arrive, and he consequently got a 
great deal more of their money for his provisions than 
he would have done, if he had told them the fact which 
he knew, and which they did not know. Do you think 
that he did right or wrong"?" 

The child, who now had rather more the expression 
of intelligence in his countenance than he had when 
the same question had been put to him after the former 
statement of the case, immediately answered, that he 
*' thought the merchant had done wrong ; that he should 
have told the people that more ships were to come in 
the morning." Several different opinions were given 
afterward by other children, and grown people who 
were asked the same question ; and what had been an 
unintelligible story, was rendered, by a little more skill 
and patience in the art of explanation, an excellent les- 
son, or rather exercise in reasoning. 

It is scarcely possible that a stranger, who sees a 
child only for a few hours, can guess what he knows 
and what he does not know ; or that he can perceive 
•the course of his thoughts, which depends upon asso- 
ciations over which he has no command ; therefore, 
when a stranger, let his learning and abilities be what 
they will, attempts to teach children, he usually puzzles 
them, and the consequences of the confusion of mind 
he creates, last sometimes for years : sometimes it in- 
fluences their moral, sometimes their scientific reason- 
ing. " Everybody but my friends," said a little girl of 
six years old, "tells me 1 am very pretty." From this 
contradictory evidence, what must the child have hi- 
ferred 1 The perplexity which some young people, al- 
most arrived at the years of discretion, have shown in 
their first notions of mathematics, has been a matter of 



114 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

astonishment to those who have attempted to teach 
them : this perplexity has at length been discovered to 
arise from their having early confounded in their minds 
the ideas of a triangle and an angle. In the most com- 
mon modes of expression there are often strange inac- 
curacies, which do not strike us, because they are fa- 
miliar to us ; but children, who hear them for the first 
time, detect their absurdity, and are frequently anxious 
to have such phrases explained. If they converse 
much with idle visiters, they will seldom be properly 
apphiuded for their precision, and their philosophic 
curiosity will often be repressed by unmeanmg replies. 
Children who have the habit of applying to their 
parents, or to sensible preceptors, in similar difficulties, 
will be somewhat better received, and will gain rather 

more accurate information. S (nine )'^ears old) was 

in a house where a chimney was on fire ; he saw a great 
bustle, and he heard the servants and people, as they 
ran backwards and forwards, all exclaim, that " the 
chimney was on fire." After the fire was put out, and 

when the bustle was over, S said to his father, 

" What do people mean when they say the chimney is 
on fire? What is it that burns?" At this question, a 
silly acquaintance would probably have laughed in the 
boy's face ; would have expressed astonishment as soon 
as his visit was over, at such an instance of strange 
ignorance in a boy of nine years old ; or, if civility had 
prompted any answer, it would perhaps have been, 
*' The chimney's being on fire, my love, means that the 
chimney's on fire! Everybody knows what's meant 
by ' the chimney's on fire !' There's a great deal of 
smoke, and sparks, and flame, coming out at the top, you 
know, when the chimney's on fire. And it's extremely 
dangerous, and would set a house on fire, or perhaps 
the whole neighbourhood, if it were not put out imme- 
diately. Many dreadful fires, you know, happen in 
towns, as we hear for ever in the newspaper, by the 
chimney's taking fire. Did you never hear of a chim- 
ney's being on fire before 1 You are a very happy young 
gentleman to have lived to your time of life, and to be 
still at a loss about such a thing. What burns ? Why, 
my dear sir, the chimney burns ; fire burns in the chim- 
ney. To be sure, fires are sad accidents ; many lives 
are lost by them every day. I had a chimney on fire in 
my drawing-room last year." 



ACQUAINTANCE. 115 

Thus would the child's curiosity liave been baffled by 
a number of words without meaning or connexion ; on 
the contrary, when he applied to a father, who was in- 
terested in his improvement, his sensible question was 
listened to with approbation. He was told, that the 
chimney's being on lire was an inaccurate common ex- 
pression ; that it was the soot in the chimney, not the 
chimney, that burned ; that the soot was sometimes set 
on fire by sparks of fire, sometimes by flame, which 
might have been accidentally draivn up the chimney. 
Some of the soot whicli had been set on fire was shown 
to him ; the nature of burning in general, the manner 
in which the chinmey draws, the meaning of that ex- 
pression, and many other things connected with the 
subject, were explained upon this occasion to the in- 
quisitive boy, who was thus encouraged to think and 
speak accurately, and to apply, in similar dii!iculties, to 
the friend who had thus taken the trouble to understand 
his simple question. A random answer to a child's 
question does him a real injury; but can we expect, 
that those who have no interest in education should 
have the patience to correct their whole conversation, 
and to adapt it precisely to the capacity of children 1 
This would indeed be unreasonable ; all we can do is 
to keep our pupiis out of the way of those who can do 
them no good, and who may do them a great deal of 
harm. We must prefer the permanent advantage of 
our pupils, to the transient vanity of exhibiting, for the 
amusement of company, their early wit or " lively 
nonsense." Children should never be introduced for 
the amusement of the circle ; nor yet should they be 
condemned to sit stock still, holding up their heads and 
letting their feet dangle from chairs that are too high 
for them, merely that they may appear what is called 
well before visiters. Whenever any conversation is 
going forward which they can understand, they should 
be kindly summoned to partake of the pleasures of so. 
ciety ; its pains and its follies we may spare them. The 
manners of young people will not be injured by this 
arrangement ; they will be at ease in company, because 
whenever they are introduced into it, they will make a 
part of it ; they will be interested and happy ; they will 
feel a proper confidence in themselves, and they will 
not be intent upon their courtesies, their frocks, their 
manner of holding their hands, or turning out their 



116 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

toes, the proper placing of sir, madam, or your lady- 
ship, with all the other imiumerable trifles which em- 
barrass the imagination, and consequently the manners, 
of those who are taught to think that they are to sit 
still, and behave in company some way differently from 
what they behave every day in their own family. 

We have hitherto only spoken of acquaintance who 
do not attempt or desire to interfere in education, but 
who only caress and talk nonsense to children with the 
best intentions possible : with these, parents will find it 
comparatively easy to manage ; they can contrive to 
employ children, or send them out to walk ; by cool re- 
serve, they can readily discourage such visiters from 
flattering their children ; and by insisting upon becom- 
ing a party in all conversations which are addressed to 
their pupils, they can, in a great measure, prevent the 
bad effects of inaccurate or imprudent conversation; 
they can explain to their pupils what was left unintel- 
ligible, and they can counteract false associations, either 
at the moment they perceive them, or at some well- 
chosen opportunity. But there is a class of acquaint- 
ance with whom it will be more difficult to manage ; 
persons who are, perhaps, on an intimate footing with 
the family, who are valued for their agreeable talents 
and estimable quahties ; who are, perhaps, persons of 
general information and good sense, and who may yet 
never have considered the subject of education ; or 
Vvho, having partially considered it, have formed some 
peculiar and erroneous opinions. They will feel them- 
selves entitled to talk upon education as well as upon 
any other topic ; they will hazard, and they will sup- 
port opinions ; they will be eager to prove the truth 
of their assertions, or the superiority of their favourite 
theories. Out of pure regard for their friends, they will 
endeavour to bring them over to their own way of 
thinking in education ; and they will by looks, by hints, 
by innuendoes, unrestrained by the presence of the chil- 
dren, insinuate their advice and their judgment upon 
every domestic occurrence. In the heat of debate, 
people frequently forget that children have eyes and 
ears, or any portion of understanding ; they are not 
aware of the quickness of that comprehension which is 
excited by the motives of curiosity and self-love. It is 
dangerous to let children be present at any arguments, 
in which the management of their minds is concerned, 



ACQUAINTANCE. 117 

until they can perfectly understand the wliole of the 
subject ; they will, if they catch but a few words, or a 
few ideas, imagine, perhaps, that there is something 
wTong, some hardships, some injustice, practised against 
them by their friends ; yet they will not distinctly know, 
nor will they, perhaps, explicitly inquire what it is. 
They should be sent out of the room before any such 
arguments are begun; or, if the conversation be ab- 
ruptly begun before parents can be upon their guard, 
they may yet, without offending against the common 
forms of politeness, decline entering into any discussion 
until their children have withdrawn. As to any direct 
attempt practically to interfere with the children's edu- 
cation, by blame or praise, by presents, by books, or by 
conversation ; these should, and really must, be reso- 
lutely and steadily resisted by parents : this will require 
some strength of mind. What can be done without it ? 
Many people, who are convinced of the danger of the 
interference of friends and acquaintance in the educa- 
tion of their children, will yet, from the fear of offending, 
from the dread of being thought singular, submit to the 
evil. These persons may be very well received and 
very well liked in the world : they must content them- 
selves with this reward ; they must not expect to suc- 
ceed in education, for strength of mind is absolutely ne- 
cessary to those who would carry a plan of education 
into effect. Without being tied down to any one exclu- 
sive plan, and with universal toleration for different 
modes of moral and intellectual instruction, it may be 
safely asserted, that the plan which is most steadily 
pursued will probably succeed the best. People who 
are moved by the advice of all their friends, and who 
endeavour to adapt their system to every fashionable 
change in opinion, will inevitably repent of their weak 
complaisance ; they will lose all power over their pupils, 
and will be forced to abandon the education of their 
families to chance. 

It will be found impossible to educate a child at home, 
unless all interference from visiters and acquaintance is 
precluded. But it is of yet more consequence, that the 
members of the family should entirely agree in their sen- 
timents, or at least in the conduct of the children under 
their care. Without this there is no hope. Young 
people perceive very quickly whether there is unanimity 
in their government; they make out an alphabet of looks 



118 PRACTICAL KDUCATION. 

with unerring precision, and decipher with amazing in- 
genuity, all that is for their interest to understand. When 
children are blamedor punished, they always know pretty 
well who pities them, who thinks that they are in the 
wrong, and who thinks that they are in the right ; and thus 
the influence of public opinion is what ultimately governs. 
If children find that, when mamma is displeased, grand- 
mamma comforts them, they will console themselves 
readily under this partial disgrace, and they will suspect 
others of caprice, instead of ever blaming tliemselves. 
They will feel little confidence in their own experience, 
or in the assertions of others ; they will think that there 
is always some chance of escape among the multitude 
of laws and lawgivers. No tutor or preceptor can be 
answerable, or ought to underlake to answer for measures 
ivhich he does not guide. Le Sage, with an inimitable 
mixture of humour and good sense, in the short history 
of the education of the robbers who supped in that cave 
in which dame Leonardo officiated, has given many ex- 
cellent lessons in education. Captain Rolando's tutors 
could never make any thing of him, because, whenever 
they reprimanded him, he ran to his mother, father, and 
grandfather, for consolation ; and from them constantly 
received protection in rebellion, and commiseration for 
the vv^ounds which he had inflicted upon his own hands 
and face, purposely to excite compassion and to obtain 
revenge. 

It is obviously impossible, that all the world, the ig- 
norant and the well-informed, the man of genius, the 
man of fashion, and the man of business, the pedant and 
the philosopher, should agree in their opinion upon any 
speculative subject ; upon the wide subject of education 
they will probably differ eternally. It will, therefore, 
be thought absurd to require this union of opinion among 
the individuals of a family ; but, let there be ever so 
much difference in their private opinions, they can 
surely discuss any disputed point at leisure, when chil- 
dren are absent ; or they can, in these arguments, con- 
verse in French, or in some language which their pupils 
do not understand. The same caution should be ob- 
served, as we just now recommended, with respect to 
acquaintance. It is much better, when any difficulties 
occur, to send the children at once into any other room, 
and to tell them that we do so because we have some- 
thing to say that we do not wish them to hear, than to 



ACQUAINTANCE. 119 

make false excuses to get rid of their company, or to 
begin whispering and disputing in their presence. 

These precautions are advisable while our pupils are 
young, before they are capable of comprehending argu- 
ments of this nature, and while their passions are vehe- 
mently interested on one side or the other. As young 
people grow up, the greater variety of opinions they 
hear upon all subjects, ihe better ; they will then form 
the habit of judging for themselves : while they are 
very young, they have not the means of forming correct 
judgments upon abstract subjects, nor are these the sub- 
jects upon which their judgment can be properly exer- 
cised : upon the subject of education they cannot be 
competent judges, because they cannot, till they are 
nearly educated, have a complete view of the means 
or of the end ; besides this, no man is allowed to be 
judge in his own case. 

Some parents allow their children a vast deal of 
liberty while they are young, and restrain them by ab- 
solute authority when their reason is, or ought to be, a 
sufficient guide for their conduct. The contrary prac- 
tice will make parents much more beloved, and will 
make children both wiser and happier. Let no idle 
visiter, no intrusive, injudicious friend, for one moment 
interfere to lessen the authority necessary for the pur- 
poses of education. Let no weak jealousy, no unsea- 
sonable love of command, restrain young people after 
they are sufficiently reasonable to judge for themselves. 
In the choice of their friends, their acquaintance, in all 
the great and small affairs of life, let them have liberty 
in proportion as they acquire reason. Fathers do not 
commonly interfere with their sons' amusements, nor 
with the choice of their acquaintance, so much as in the 
regulation of their pecuniary affairs : but mothers, who 
have had any considerable share in the education of 
boys, are apt to make mistakes as to the proper seasons 
for indulgence and control. They do not watch the 
moments when dangerous prejudices and tastes begin 
to be formed ; they do not perceive how the slight con- 
versations of acquaintance operate upon the ever-open 
ear of childhood ; but when the age of passion ap- 
proaches, and approaches, as it usually does, in storms 
and tempest, then all their maternal fears are suddenly 
roused, and their anxiety prompts them to use a thou- 
sand injudicious and ineffectual expedients. 



120 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

A modern princess, who had taken considerable pains 
in the education of her son, made both herself and him 
ridiculous by her anxiety upon his introduction into the 
world. She travelled about with him from place to 
place, to make him see every thing worth seeing ; but he 
was not to stir from her presence ; she could not bear 
to have him out of sight or hearing. In all companies 
he was chaperoned by his mother. Was he invited to a 
ball, she must be invited also, or he could not accept of 
the invitation : he must go in the same coach, and re- 
turn in the same coach with her. " I should like ex- 
tremely to dance another dance," said he one evening 
to his partner, " but you see I must go ; my mother is 
putting on her cloak." The tall young man called for 
some negus, and had the glass at his lips, when his 
mannna called out in a shrill voice, through a vista of 
heads, " Eh ! My son no drink wine ! My son like 
milk and water !" The son was at this time at years 
o( discretion. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ON TEMPER. 

We have already, in speaking of the early care of 
infants, suggested that the temper should be attended 
to from the moment of their birth. A negligent, a care- 
less, a passionate servant, must necessarily injure the 
temper of a child. The first language of an infant is 
intelligible only to its nurse ; she can distinguish be- 
tween the cry of pain and the note of ill-humour, or the 
roar of passion. The cry of pain should be listened 
to with the utmost care, and every possible means 
should be used to relieve the child's sufferings ; but 
when it is obvious that he cries from ill-humour, a nurse 
should not sooth him with looks of affection ; these she 
should reserve for the moment when the storm is over. 
We do not mean that infants should be suffered to cry 
for a length of time without being regarded ; this would 
give them habits of ill-humour : we only wish that the 
nurse would, as soon as possible, teach the child that 



TEMPER. 121 

what he wants can be obtained without his putting him- 
self in a passion. Great care should be taken to pre- 
vent occasions for ill-humour ; if a nurse neglect her 
charge, or if she be herself passionate, the child will suf- 
fer so much pain, and so many disappointments, that it 
must be in a continual state of fretfulness. An active, 
cheerful, good-humoured, intelligent nurse, will make 
a child good-humoured by a regular, affectionate at- 
tendance ; by endeavouring to prevent all unnecessary 
sufferings, and by quickly comprehending its language 
of signs. The best humoured woman in the world, if 
she is stupid, is not fit to have the care of a child ; the 
child will not be able to make her understand any thing 
less than vociferation. By way of amusing the infant, 
she will fatigue it with her caresses ; without ever dis- 
covering the real cause of his wo, she will sing one 
universal lullaby upon all occasions to pacify her charge. 

It requires some ingenuity to discover the cause and 
cure of those long and loud fits of crying, which fre- 
quently arise from imaginary apprehensions. A little 
boy of two years old used to cry violently when he 
awoke in the middle of the night and saw a candle in 
the room. It was observed that the shadow of the per- 
son who was moving about in the room frightened him, 
and as soon as the cause of his crying was found out, 
it was easy to pacify him ; his fear of shadows was ef- 
fectually cured, by playfully showing him, at different 
times, that shadows had no power to hurt him. 

H , about nine months old, when she first began to 

observe the hardness of bodies, let her hand fall upon a 
cat vvhich had crept unperceived upon the table ; she 
was surprised and terrified by the unexpected sensation 
of softness ; she could not touch the cat, or any thing 
that felt like soft fur, without showing agitation, till sh>e 
was near four years old, though every gentle means 
was used to conquer her antipathy ; the antipathy was, 
however, cured at last, by her having a wooden cat cov- 
ered with fur for a plaything. 

A boy between four and five years old, H , used 

to cry bitterly when he was left alone in a room, in 
which there were some old family pictures. It was 
found that he was much afraid of these pictures ; a 
maid, who took care of him, had terrified him with the 
notion that they would come to him, or that they were 
looking at him, and would be angry with him if he were 
F 



122 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

not good. To cure the child of this fear of pictures, a 
small-sized portrait, which was not among the number 
of those that had frightened him, was produced in broad 
daylight. A piece of cake was put upon this picture, 
which the boy was desired to take ; he took it, touched 
the picture, and was shown the canvass at the back of 
it ; which, as it happened to be torn, he could easily iden- 
tify with the painting : the picture was then given to him 
for a plaything ; he made use of it as a table, and became 
very fond of it as soon as he was convinced that it was 
not alive, and that it could do him no sort of injury. 

By patiently endeavouring to discover the causes of 
terror in children, we may probably prevent their tem- 
pers from acquiring many bad habits. It is scarcely 
possible for any one who has not constantly lived with 
a child, and who has not known the whole rise and prog- 
ress of his little character, to trace the causes of these 
strange apprehensions ; for this reason, a parent has 
advantages in the education of his child, which no tutor 
or schoolmaster can have. 

A little boy was observed to show signs of fear and 
dislike at hearing the sound of a drum : to a stranger, 
such fear must have seemed unaccountable ; but those 
v/ho lived with the child knew from what it arose. 
He had been terrified by the sight of a merry-andrew in 
a mask, who had played upon a drum ; this was the 
first time that he had ever heard the sound of a drum ; 
the souiid was associated with fear, and continued to 
raise apprehensions in the child's mind after he had for- 
gotten the original cause of that apprehension. 

We are well aware that we have laid ourselves open 
to ridicule, by the apparently trifling anecdotes wliich 
have just been mentioned ; but if we can save one child 
from an hour's unnecessary misery, or one parent from 
an hour's anxiety, we shall bear the laugh, we hope, 
with good-humour. 

Young children, who have not a great number of 
ideas, perhaps for that reason associate those which 
they acquire with tenacity ; they cannot reason con- 
cerning general causes ; they expect that any event, 
which has once or twice followed another, will always 
follow in the same order ; they do not distinguish be- 
tween proximate and remote causes ; between coinci- 
dences and the regular comiexion of cause and effect : 
hence children are subject to feel hopes and fears from 



TEMPER. 123 

things which to us appear matters of indifference. Sup- 
pose, for instance, that a child is very eager to go out 
to walk, that his mother puts on her gloves and her 
cloak, these being the usual signals that she is going 
out, he instantly expects, if he has been accustomed to 
accompany her, that he shall have the pleasure of walk- 
ing out ; but if she goes out and forgets him, he is not 
only disappointed at that moment, but the disappoint- 
ment, or, at least, some indistinct apprehension, recurs 
to him when he is in a similar situation : the putting on 
of his mothers cloak and gloves are then circumstances 
of vast importance to him, and create anxiety, perhaps 
tears, while to every other spectator they are matters 
of total indifference. Every one, who has had any ex- 
perience in the education of such children as are apt to 
form strong associations, must be aware, that many of 
those fits of crying, v.'hich appear to arise solely from ill- 
humour, are occasioned by association. When these 
are suffered to become hnbitnal, they are extremely dif- 
ficult to conquer: it is, therefore, best to conquer them 
as soon as possible. If a child has, by any accident, 
been disposed to cry at particular times in the day, with- 
out any obvious cause, we should at those hours engage 
his attention, occupy him, change the room he is in, or 
by any new circumstance break his habits. It will re- 
quire some penetration to distinguish between involun- 
tary tears and tears of caprice ; but even when children 
are really cross, it is not, while they are very young, 
prudent to let them wear out their ill-humour, as some 
people do, in total neglect. Children, when they are 
left to weep in solitude, often continue in wo for a con- 
siderable length of time, until they quite forget the 
original cause of complaint ; and they continue their 
convulsive sobs and whining note of distress, purely 
from inability to stop themselves. 

Thus habits of ill-humour are contracted : it is better, 
by a little well-timed excitation, to turn the course of a 
child's thoughts, and to make him forget his trivial mis- 
eries. " The tear forgot as soon as shed," is far better 
than the peevish whine, or sullen lowering brow, which 
proclaim the unconquered spirit of discontent. 

Perhaps from the anxiety which we have expressed 

to prevent the petty misfortunes and unnecessary tears 

of children, it may be supposed that we are disposed to 

humour them ; far from it. — We know too well that a 

F2 



124 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

humoured child is one of the most unhappy beings in the 
world ; a burden to himself and to his friends ; capri- 
cious, tyrannical, passionate, peevish, sullen, and selfish. 

An only child runs a dreadful chance of being spoiled. 
He is born a person of consequence ; he soon discovers 
his innate merit; every eye is turned upon him the mo- 
ment he enters the room ; his looks, his dress, his appe- 
tite, are all matters of daily concern to a whole family ; 
his wishes are divined ; his wants are prevented ; his 
witty sayings are repeated in his presence ; his smiles 
are courted; his caresses excite jealousy, and he soon 
learns how to avail himself of his central situation. His 
father and mother make him alternately their idol and 
their plaything ; they do not think of educating, they 
only think of admiring him ; they imagine that he is un- 
like all other children in the universe, and that his 
genius and his temper are independent of all cultivation. 
But when this little paragon of perfection has two or 
three brothers and sisters, the scene changes ; the man 
of consequence dwindles into an insignificant little boy. 
We shall hereafter explain more fully the danger of ac- 
customing children to a large share of our sympathy; 
we hope that the economy of kindness and caresses 
which we have recommended,* will be found to in- 
crease domestic affection, and to be essentially servicea- 
ble to the temper. In a future chapter, " On Vanity, 
Pride, and Ambition," some remarks will be found on 
the use and abuse of the stimuli of praise, emulation, 
and ambition. The precautions which we have already 
mentioned with respect to servants, and the methods 
that have been suggested for inducing habitual and ra- 
tional obedience, will also, we hope, be considered as 
serviceable to the temper, as well as to the understand- 
ing. Perpetual and contradictory conmiands and pro- 
hibitions not only make children disobedient, but fretful, 
peevish, and passionate. 

Idleness among children, as among men, is the root 
of all evil, and leads to no evil more certainly than to 
ill-temper. It is said,! that the late king of Spain was 
always so cross during Passion-week, when he was 
obliged to abstain from his favourite amusement of 
hunting, that none of his courtiers liked to approach his 

* See Chapter on Sympathy and Sensihihty. 
t By Mr. Townsend, in his Travels into Spain. 



TEMPER. 125 

majesty. There is a great similarity between the con- 
dition of a prince flattered by his courtiers, and a child 
humoured by his family; and we may observe, that both 
the child and prince are most intolerable to their de- 
pendants and friends, when any of their daily amuse- 
ments are interrupted. It is not that the amusements 
are in themselves delightful, but the pains and penalties 
of idleness are insupportable. We have endeavoured 
to provide a variety of occupations, as well as of amuse- 
ments, for our youug pupils,* that they may never know 
the misery of the Spanish monarch. When children 
are occupied, they are independent of other people ; they 
are not obliged to watch for casual entertainment from 
those who happen to be unemployed, or who chance to 
be in a humour to play with them ; they have some 
agreeable object continually in view, and they feel satis- 
fied with themselves. They will not torment every- 
body in the house with incessant requests. " May I 
have this I Will you give me that 1 May I go out to see 
such a thing 1 When will it be dinner-time 1 When will 
it be tea-time ? When will it be time for me to go to 
supper?" are the impatient questions of a child who is 
fretful from having nothing to do. Idle children are 
eternal petitioners, and the refusals they meet with per- 
petually irritate their temper. With respect to requests 
in general, we should either grant inmiediately what a 
child desires, or we should give a decided refusal. The 
state of suspense is not easily borne ; the propriety or 
impropriety of the request should decide us either to 
grant or to refuse it ; and we should not set the exam- 
ple of caprice, or teach our pupils the arts of courtiers, 
who watch the humour of tyrants. If we happen to be 
busy, and a child comes with an eager request about 
some trifle, it is easy so far to command our temper as 
to answer, " I am busy, don't talk to me now," instead 
of driving the petitioner away with harsh looks, and a 
peremptory refusal, which make as great an impression 
as harsh words. If we are reasonable, the child will 
soon learn to apply to us at proper times. By the same 
steady, gentle conduct, we may teach him to manage 
his love of talking with discretion, and may prevent 
those ineffectual exhortations to silence, which irritate 
the temper of the vivacious pupil. Expostulations, and 

* See Chapter on Toys, 



126 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

angry exclamations, will not so effectually command 
from our pupils temperance of tong-ue, as their own con- 
viction that they are more likely to gain attention from 
their friends, if they choose properly their seasons for 
conversation. 

To prevent, we cannot too often repeat it, is better 
than to punish, without humouring children ; that is to 
say, without yielding to their caprices, or to their ivill, 
when they express their wishes with impatience, we 
may prevent many of those little inconveniences which 
tease and provoke the temper ; any continual irritation 
exhausts our patience ; acute pain can be endured with 
more fortitude. 

We have sometimes seen children become fi*etful 
from the constant teasing effect of some slight incon- 
veniences in their dress ; we have pitied poor little boys 
who were continually exhorted to produce their hand- 
kerchiefs, and Vv^ho could scarcely ever get these hand- 
kerchiefs out of their tight pockets into which they had 
been stuffed ; into such pockets the hand can never 
enter or withdraw itself, without as much difficulty as 
Trenck had in getting rid of his handcuffs. The torture 
of tight slioes, of back-boards, collars, and stocks, we 
hope, is nearly abandoned ; surely all these are unneces- 
sary trials of fortitude ; they exhaust that patience 
which might be exercised upon things of consequence. 
Count Rumford tells us that he observed a striking me- 
lioration in the temper of all the mendicants in the es- 
tablishment at Munich, when they were relieved from 
the constant torments of rags and vermin. 

Some people imagine that early sufferings, that a 
number of small inconveniences, habitual severity of 
reproof, and frequent contradiction and disappointment, 
inure children to pain, and consequently improve their 
temper. Early sufferings which are necessary and in- 
evitable, may improve children in fortitude ; but the con- 
tradictions and disappointments which arise immediately 
from the will of others, have not the sa.ne effect. Chil- 
dren, where their own interests are concerned, soon dis- 
tinguish between these two classes of evils ; they sub- 
mit patiently when they know that it would be in vain 
to struggle ; they murmur and rebel, if they dare, when- 
ever they feel the hand of power press upon them ca- 
priciously. We should not invent trials of temper for 



TEMPER. 127 

our pupils ; if they can bear with good humour the com- 
mon course of events, we should be satisfied. 

" I tumbled down, and I bored it very well," said a 
little boy of three years old, with a look of great satis- 
faction. If this little boy had been thrown down on pur- 
pose by his parents as a trial of temper, it probably 
would not have been borne so well. As to inconveni- 
ences, in general it is rather a sign of indolence tlian a 
proof of good temper in children to submit to them 
quietly ; if they can be remedied by exertion, why 
should they be passively endured ? If they cannot be 
remedied, undoubtedly it is then better to abstract the 
attention from them as much as possible, because this 
is the only method of lessening the pain. Children 
should be assisted in making this distinction, by our ap- 
plauding their exertions when they struggle against un- 
necessary evil, by our commending their patience 
whenever they endure inevitable pain without com- 
plaints. 

Illness, for instance, is an inevitable evil. To prevent 
children from becoming peevish when they are ill, we 
should give our pity and sympathy with an increased 
appearance of affection whenever they bear their illness 
with patience. No artifice is necessary ; we need not 
alfect any increase of pity ; patience and good-humour 
in the sufferer naturally excite the affection and esteem 
of the spectators. The self-complacency which the 
young patient must feel from a sense of his own forti- 
tude, and the perception that he commands the willing 
hearts of all who attend him, are really alleviations of 
his bodily sufferings ; the only alleviations which, in 
some cases, can possibly be afforded. 

The attention which is thought necessary in learning 
languages, often becomes extremely painful to the pu- 
pils, and the temper is often hurt by ineffectual attempts 
to improve the understanding. We have endeavoured 
to explain the methods of managing* the attention of 
children with the least possible degree of pain. Yester- 
day a little boy of three years old, VV , was learning 

his alphabet from his father ; after he had looked at one 
letter for some time with great attention, he raised his 
eyes, and with a look of much good-humour, said to his fa- 
ther, " It makes me tired to stand." His father seated him 

* See Chapter on Attention, 



128 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

upon his knee, and told him that he did wisely in telling 
what tired him : the child, the moment he was seated, 
fixed his attentive eyes again upon his letters with fresh 
eagerness, and succeeded. Surely it was not humour- 
ing this boy to let him sit down when he was tired. If 
we teach a child that our assistance is to be purchased 
by fretful entreaties; if we show him that we are afraid 
of a storm, he will make use of our apprehensions to ac- 
complish his purposes. On the contrary, if he perceive 
that we can steadily resist his tears and ill-humour, and 
especially if we show inditference upon the occasion, 
he will perceive that he had better dry his tears, sus- 
pend his rage, and try how far good-humour will pre- 
vail. Children who in every little difficulty are assisted 
by others, really believe that others are in fault when- 
ever this assistance is not inmiediately offered. Look 
at a humoured child, for instance, trying to push a chair 
along the carpet; if a wrinkle in the carpet stops his 
progress, he either beats the chair, or instantly turns 
with an angry appealing look to his mother for assist- 
ance ; and if she do not get up to help him, he will 
cry. Another boy, who has not been humoured, will 
neither beat the chair nor angrily look round for help ; 
but he will look immediately to see what it is that stops 
the chair, and when he sees the wrinkle in the carpet, 
he will either level or surmount the obstacle : during 
this whole operation, he will not feel in the least inclined 
to cry. Both these children might have had precisely 
the same original stock of patience ; but by different 
management, the one would become passionate and 
peevish, the other both good-humoured and persevering. 
The pleasure of success pays children, as well as men, 
for long toil and labour. Success is the proper reward 
of perseverance ; but if we sometimes capriciously 
grant, and sometinies refuse our help, our pupils can- 
not learn this important truth ; and they imagine that 
success depends upon the will of others, and not upon 
their own efforts. A child educated by a fairy, who 
sometimes came with magic aid to perform, and who 
was sometimes deaf to her call, would necessarily be- 
come ill-humoured. 

Several children, who were reading " Evenings at 
Home," observed that in the story of Juliet and the fairy 
Order, " it was wrong to make the fairy come whenever 
Juliet cried, and could not do her task, because that was 



TEMPER. 129 

the way," said the children, " to make the little girl ill- 
humoured." 

We have formerly observed that children who live 
much with companions of their own age, are under but 
little habitual restraint as to their tempers ; they quar- 
rel, fight, and shake hands ; they have long and loud 
altercations, in which the strongest voice often gets the 
better. It does not improve the temper to be overborne 
by petulance and clamour : even mild, sensible children, 
will learn to be positive, if they converse with violent 
dunces. In private families, where children mix in the 
society of persons of different ages, who encourage 
them to converse without reserve, they may meet with 
exact justice ; they may see that their respective talents 
and good qualities are appreciated ; they may acquire 
the habit of arguing without disputing; and they may 
learn that species of mutual forbearance in trifles, as 
well as in matters of consequence, which tends so ruvich 
to domestic happiness. Dr Franklin, in one of hfs let- 
ters to a young female friend, after answering some 
questions which she had asked him, apparently referrmg 
to an argument which had passed some time before, 
concludes with this comprehensive compliment : " So, 
you see, 1 think you had the best of the arp;umenL ; and, 
as you gave it up in complaisance to the company, I 
think you had also the best of the dispute.'"' When 
young people perceive that they gain credit by keep- 
ing their temper in conversation, they will not be 
furious for victory, because moderation during the time 
of battle can alone entitle them to the honours of a 
triumph. 

It is particularly necessary for girls to acquire com- 
mand of temper in arguing, because much of the effect 
of their powers of reasoning, and of their wit, when they 
grow up, will depend upon the gentleness and good-hu- 
mour with which they conduct themselves. A woman 
who should attempt to thunder like Demosthenes, would 
not find her eloquence increase her domestic happiness. 
We by no means wish that women should yield their 
better judgment to their fathers or husbands ; but, with- 
out using any of that debasing cunning which Rousseau 
recommends, they may support the cause of reason 
with all the graces of female gentleness. 

A man in a furious passion is terrible to his enemies; 
but a woman in a passion is disgusting to her friends ; 
F3 



130 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

she loses the respect due to her sex, and she has not 
masculine strength and courage to enforce any other 
species of respect. These circumstances should be 
considered by writers who advise that no difference 
should be made in the education of the two sexes. We 
cannot help thinking that their happiness is of more 
consequence tlian their speculative rights, and we wish 
to educate women so that they maybe happy in the situ- 
ations in which they are most likely to be placed. So 
much depends upon the temper of women, that it ought 
to be most carefully cultivated in early life ; girls should 
be more inured to restraint than boys, because they are 
likely to meet with more restraint in society. Girls 
should learn the habit of bearing slight reproofs without 
thinking them matters of great consequence ; but then 
they should always be permitted to state their argu- 
ments, and they should perceive that justice is shown to 
them, and that they increase the affection and esteem 
of their friends by command of temper. Many passion- 
ate men are extremely good-natured, and make amends 
for their extravagances b}'' their candour, and their 
eagerness to please those whom they have injured 
during their fits of anger. It is said that the servants 
of Dean Swift used to throw themselves in his way 
whenever he was in a passion, because they knew that 
his generosity would recompense them for standing the 
full fire of his anger. A woman wlio permitted her- 
self to treat her servants with ill-humour, and who be- 
lieved that she could pay them for ill usage, would 
make a very bad mistress of a family ; her husband and 
her children would suffer from her ill temper, without 
being recompensed for their misery. We should not 
let girls imagine that they can balance ill-humour by 
some good quality or accomplishment; because, in fact, 
there are none which can supply the want of temper in 
the female sex. 

A just idea of the nature of dignity, opposed to what 
is commonly called spirit, should be given early to our 
female pupils. Many women who are not disposed to 
violence of temper, affect a certain degree of petulance, 
and a certain stubbornness of opinion, merely because 
they imagine that to be gentle is to be mean ; and that 
to listen to reason is to be deficient in spirit. 

Enlarging the understanding of young women will 
prevent them from the trifling vexations which irritate 



TEMPER. 131 

those who have none but trifling objects. We have ob- 
served that concerted trials of temper are not advan- 
tageous for very young children. Those trials which 
are sometimes prepared for pupils at a more advanced 
period of education, are not always more happy in their 
consequences. We make trifles appear important ; and 
then we are surprised that they are thought so. 

Lord Karnes tells us that he was acquainted with a 
gentleman, who, though otherwise a man of good un- 
derstanding, did not show his good sense in the educa- 
tion of his daughters' temper. " He had," says Lord 
Kames, " three comely daughters, between twelve and 
sixteen, and to inure them to bear disappointments, he 
would propose to make a visit which he knew would 
delight them. The coach was bespoke, and the young 
ladies, completely armed for conquest, were ready to 
take their seats. But, behold ! their father had changed 
his mind. This, indeed, was a disappointment ; but as 
it appeared to proceed from whim, or caprice, it might 
sour their temper instead of improving it."* 

But why should a visit be made of such mighty con- 
sequence to girls 1 Why should it be a disappointment 
to stay at home 1 And why should Lord Kames advise 
that disappointments should be made to appear the effects 
of chance? This method of making things appear to 
be what they are not, we cannot too often reprobate ; 
it will not have better success in the education of the 
temper, than in the management of the understanding ; 
it would ruin the one or the other, or both : even when 
promises are made with perfect good faith to young 
people, the state of suspense which they create is not 
serviceable to the temper, and it is extremely difficult to 
promise proper rewards. f The celebrated Serena surely 
established her reputation for good teniper without any 
very severe trials. Our standard of female excellence 
is evidently changed since the days of Griselda ; but we 
are inclined to think, that even in these degenerate days, 
public amusements would not fill the female imagination, 
if they were not early represented as such charming 
things, such great rewards to girls, by their imprudent 
friends. 

The temper depends much upon the understanding ; 

* Lord Kames, p. 109. 

t See Chapter on Rewards and Punishments. 



132 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and whenever we give our pupils, whether male or 
female, false ideas of pleasure, we prepare for them in- 
numerable causes of discontent. '" You ought to be 
above such things ! You ought not to let yourself be 
vexed by such trifles !" are (;ominon expressions, which 
do not immediatf ly change the irritated person's feelings. 
You must alter the habits of thinking ; you must change 
the view of the object, before you can alter the feelings. 
Suppose a girl has, from the conversation of all her ac- 
quaintance, learned to imagine that there is some vast 
pleasure in going to a masquerade ; it is in vain to tell 
her, in the moment that she is disappointed about her 
masquerade dress, that " it is a trifle, and she ought to 
be above trifles." She cannot be above them at a mo- 
ment's warning ; but if she had never been inspired 
with a violent desire to go to a masquerade, the disap- 
pointment would really appear trifling. We may calcu- 
late the probability of any person's mortification, by ob- 
serving the vehemence of their hopes ; thus we are led 
to observe, that the imagination influences the temper. 
Upon tliis subject we shall speak more fully when we 
treat of Imagination and Judgment. 

To measure the degree of indulgence which ma}' be 
safe for any given pupils, we must attend to the eff"ect 
produced by pleasure upon their imagination and temper. 
If a small diminution of their usual enjoyments disturbs 
them, they have been rendered not too happy, but too 
susceptible. Happy people, who have resources in 
their own power, do not feel every slight variation in 
external circumstances. We may safely allow children 
to be as happy as they possibly can be without sacri- 
ficing the future to the present. Such prosperity will 
not enervate their minds. 

We make this assertion with some confidence, be- 
cause experience has in many instances confirmed our 
opinion. Among a large family of children, who have 
never been tormented with artificial trials of temper, 
and who have been made as happy as it was in the 
power of their parents to make them, there is not one 
ill-tempered child. We have exatnples every day before 
usof diflferent ages, from three years old to fifteen. 

Before parents adopt either Epicurean or Stoical doc- 
trines in the education of the temper, it may be prudent 
to calculate the probabilities of the good and evil which 
their pupils are likely to meet with in life. The Syb- 



OBEDIENCE. 133 

arite, whose night's rest was disturbed by a doubled rose 
leaf, deserves to be pitied almost as much as the young 
man who, when he was benighted in the snow, was re- 
proached by his severe father for having collected a 
heap of snow to make himself a pillow. Unless we 
could for ever ensure the bed of roses to our pupils, we 
should do very imprudently to make it early necessary 
to their repose : unless the pillow of snow is likely 
to be their lot, we need not inure them to it from their 
infancy. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON OBEDIENCE. 

Obedience has been often called the virtue of child- 
hood. How far it is entitled to the name of virtue, we 
need not at present stop to examine. Obedience is ex- 
pected from children long before they can reason upon 
the justice of our commands ; consequently it must be 
taught as a habit. By associating pleasure with those 
things which we first desire children to do, we should 
make them necessarily like to obey ; on the contrary, 
if we begin by ordering them to do what is difficult 
and disagreeable to them, they must dislike obedience. 
The poet seems to understand this subject when he 
says, 

"Or bid her wear your necklace rowed with pearl, 
You'll find your Fanny an obedient girl."* 

The taste for a necklace rowed with pearl, is not the 
first taste, even in girls, that we should wish to culti- 
vate ; but the poet's principle is good, notwithstanding. 
Bid your child do things that are agreeable to him, and 
you may be sure of his obedience. Bid a hungry boy 
eat apple-pie; order a shivering urchin to warm him- 
self at a good fire ; desire him to go to bed when you 
see him yawn with fatigue, and by such seasonable com- 

* Elegy on an old Beauty. — Parnel. 



134 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

mands you will soon form associations of pleasure in 
his mind, with the voice and tone of authority. This 
tone should never be threatening or alarming; it should 
be gentle, but decided. Whenever it becomes necessary 
that a child should do what he feels disagreeable, it is 
better to make him submit at once to necessity, than to 
create any doubt and struggle in his mind, by leaving 
him a possibility of resistance. Suppose a little boy 
wishes to sit up later than the hour at which you think 
proper that he should go to bed ; it is most prudent to 
take him to bed at the appointed time, witliout saying 
one word to him, either in the way of entreaty or com- 
mand. If you entreat, you give the child an idea that 
he has it in his power to refuse you: if you command, 
and he does not instantly obey, you hazard your au- 
thority, and you teach him that he can successfully set 
his will in opposition to yours. The boy wishes to sit 
up ; he sees no reason, in the moral fitness of things, 
why he should go to bed at one hour more than at 
another ; all he perceives is, that such is your will. 
What does he gain by obeying you 1 Nothing : he loses 
the pleasure of sitting up half an hour longer. How 
can you then expect that he should, in consequence of 
these reasonings, give up his obvious immediate inter- 
est, and march off to bed heroically at the word of com- 
mand? Let him not be put to the trial ; when he has 
for some time been regularly taken to bed at a fixed hour, 
he will acquire the habit of thinking that he must go at 
that hour : association will make him expect it ; and if 
his experience has been uniform, he will, without know- 
ing why, think it necessary that he should do as he has 
been used to do. When the habit of obedience to cus- 
tomary necessity is thus formed, we may, without much 
risk, ingraft upon it obedience to the voice of authority. 
For instance, when the boy hears the clock strike, the 
usual signal for his departure, you may, if you see that 
he is habitually ready to obey this siirnal, associate 
your commands with that to which he has already 
learned to pay attention. "Go; it is time that you 
should go to bed now," will only seem to tlie child a 
confirmation of the sentence already pronounced by the 
clock: by degrees, your commands, after they have 
been regularly repeated, when the child feels no hope 
of evading them, will, even in new circ^umstances, have 
from association the power of compelling obedience. 



OBEDIENCE. 135 

Whenever we desire a child to do any tiling, we should 
be perfectly certain, not only that it is a thing which he 
is capable of doing, but also that it is something we can, 
in case it comes to that ultimate argument, force him to 
do. You cannot oblige a child to stand up, if he has a 
mind to sit down; or to walk, if he does not choose to 
exert his muscles for that purpose : but you can abso- 
lutely prevent him from touching whatever you desire 
him not to meddle with, by your superior strength. It 
is best, then, to begin with prohibitions ; with such pro- 
hibitions as you can, and will, steadily persevere to en- 
force : if you are not exact in requiring obedience, you 
will never obtain it, either by persuasion or authority. 
As it will require a considerable portion of time and un- 
remitting attention, to enforce the punctual observance 
of a variety of prohibitions, it will, for your own sake, 
be most prudent to issue as few edicts as possible, and 
to be sparing in the use of the imperative mood. It 
will, if you calculate the trouble you must take day after 
day to watch your pupil, cost you less to begin by ar- 
ranging every circumstance in your power, so as to pre- 
vent the necessity of trusting to laws what ought to be 
guarded against by precaution. Do you, for instance, 
wish to prevent your son from breaking a beautiful china- 
jar in your drawing-room 1 instead of forbidding him to 
touch it, put it out of his reach. — Would you prevent 
your son from talking to servants "? let your house, in 
the first place, be so arranged, that he shall never be 
obliged to pass through any rooms where he is likely to 
meet with servants ; let all his wants be gratified with- 
out their interference ; let him be able to get at his hat 
without asking the footman to reach it for him, from its 
inaccessible height.* The simple expedient of hanging 
the hat in a place where the boy can reach it, will save 
you the trouble of continually repeating, " Don't ask 
William, child, to reach your hat ; can't you come and 
ask me V Yes, the boy can come and ask you ; but if 
you are busy, you will not like to go in quest of tlie hat ; 
your reluctance will possibly appear in your counte- 
nance, and the child, who understands the language of 
looks better than that of words, will clearly compre- 
hend, that you are displeased with him at the very 
instant that he is fulfilling the letter of the law. 

* Rousseau. 



136 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

A lady who was fond of having her house well ar- 
ranged, discovered, to the amazement of her acquaint- 
ance, the art of making all her servants keep every thing 
in its place. Even in the kitchen, fronj the most mi- 
nute article to the most unwieldy, every tlnng was inva- 
riably to be found in its allotted station ; the servants 
were thought miracles of obedience ; but, in fact, they 
obeyed because it was the easiest thing they could pos- 
sibly do. Order was made more convenient to them 
than disorder; and, with their utmost ingenuity to save 
themselves trouble, they could not invent places for 
every thing more appropriate than those which had been 
assigned by their mistress's legislative economy. In 
the Same manner we may securt; the orderly obedience 
of children, without exhausting their patience or our 
own. Rousseau advises, that children should be gov- 
erned solely by the necessity of circumstances ; but 
there are one-ami-twenty excellent objections to this sys- 
tem ; the first being, that it is impossible : of this Rousseau 
must have been sensible, in the trials which he made as 
a preceptor. When he had the management of a re- 
fractory child, he found himself obliged to invent and 
arrange a whole drama, by artificial experience, to con- 
vince his little pupil that he had better not walk out in 
the streets of Paris alone ; and that, therefore, he should 
wait until his tutor could conveniently accompany him, 
Rousseau had prepared the neighbours on each side of 
the street to nuike proper speeches as his pupil passed 
by their doors, which alarmed and piqued the boy effect- 
ually. At length the child was met, at a proper time, 
by a friend who had been appointed to watch him ; and 
thus he was brought home submissive. This scene, as 
Rousseau observes, was admirably well performed ;* 
but what occasion could there be for so much contri- 
vance and deceit 1 If his pupil had not been uncom- 
monly deficiejit \\\ penetration, he would soon have dis- 
covered his preceptor in some of his artifices ; then 
adieu both to obedience and confidence. A false idea 
of the pleasures of liberty misled Rousseau. Children 
have not our abstract ideas of the pleasures of liberty; 
they do not, until they have suffered from ill-judged re- 
straints, feel any strong desire to exercise what we call 
freewill ; liberty is, with them, the liberty of doing cer- 

* Emihus, vol. i. page 23, 



OBEDIENCE. 137 

tain specific things which they have found to be agree- 
able ; liberty is not the general idea of pleasure, in doing 
whatever they will to do. Rousseau desires, that toe 
should not let our pupil knoiv, that in doing our will he is 
obedient to us. But why 1 Why should we not let a 
child know tiie truth 1 If we attempt to conceal it, we 
shall only get into endless absurdities and difficulties. 
Lord Karnes tells us, that he was acquainted with a cou- 
ple, who, in the education of their family, pursued as 
much as possible Rousseau's plan. One evening, as the 
father was playing at chess with a friend, one of his 
children, a boy of about four years old, took a piece 
from the board, and ran away to play with it. The fa- 
ther, whose principles would not permit him to assert 
his right to his own chess-man, began to bargain for his 
property with his son. " Harry," said he, " let us have 
back the man, and there's an apple for you." The apple 
was soon devoured, and the child returned to the chess- 
board and kidnapped another chess-man. What tiiis 
man's ransom might be, we are not yet informed ; but 
Lord Karnes tells us, that the father was obliged to sus- 
pend his game at chess until his son was led avay to 
his supper. Does it seem just, that parents should be- 
come slaves to the liberties of their children'? If one 
set of beings or another should sacrifice a portion of 
happiness, surely those who are the most useful, and 
the most capable of increasing the knowledge and the 
pleasures of life, have some claim to a preference ; and 
when the power is entirely in their own hands, it is 
most probable that they will defend their own interests. 
We shall not, like many who have spoken of Rousseau, 
steal from him after having abused him. His remarks 
upon the absurd and tyrannical restraints which are 
continually imposed upon children by the folly of nurses 
and servants, or by the imprudent anxiety of parents 
and preceptors, are excellent. Whenever Rousseau is 
in the right, his eloquence is irresistible. 

To determine what degree of obedience it is just to 
require from children, we must always consider what 
degree of reason they possess : whenever we can use 
reason, we should never use force ; it is only while chil- 
dren are too young to comprehend reason, that we 
should expect from them implicit submission. The 
means which have been pointed out for teaching the 



138 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

habit of obedience, must not be depended upon for teach- 
ing any thing more than the mere habit. When chil- 
dren begin to reason, they do not act merely from habit ; 
they will not be obedient at this age, unless their under- 
standing is convinced that it is for their advantage to be 
so. Wherever we can explain the reasons for any of 
our requests, we should attempt it ; but whenever these 
cannot be fully explained, it is better not to give a par- 
tial explanation ; it will be best to say steadily, " You 
cannot understand this now, you will, perhaps, under- 
stand it some time hence." Whenever we tell children, 
that we forbid them to do such and such things for any 
particular reason, we must take care that the reason 
assigned is adequate, and that it will in all cases hold 
good. For instance, if we forbid a boy to eat unripe 
fruit, because it loill make himill, and if afterward the boy 
eat some unripe gooseberries without feeling ill in con- 
sequence of his disobedience, he will doubt the truth of 
the person who prohibited unripe fruit ; he will rather 
trust his own partial experience than any assertions. 
The idea of hurting his health is a general idea, which 
he does not yet comprehend. It is more prudent to 
keep him out of the way of unripe gooseberries, than to 
hazard at once his obedience and his integrity. We 
need not expatiate further ; the instance we have given, 
may be readily applied to all cases in which children 
have it in their power to disobey with immediate impu- 
nity, and, what is still more dangerous, with the cer- 
tainty of obtaining immediate pleasure. The gratifica- 
tion of their senses, and the desire of bodily exercise, 
ought never to be unnecessarily restrained. Our pupils 
should distinctly perceive, that we wish to make them 
happy; and every instance in which they discover that 
obedience has really made them happier, will be more in 
our favour than all the lectures we could preach. From 
thepast, they will judge of the future. Children who have 
for many years experienced that their parents have 
exacted obedience only to such commands as proved to 
be ultimately wise and beneficial, v/jll surely be disposed, 
from habit, from gratitude, and yet more from prudence, 
to consult their parents in all the material actions of their 
lives. 

We may observe, that the spirit of contradiction, 
which sometimes breaks out in young people the mo- 



OBEDIENCE. 139 

ment they are able to act for themselves, arises fre- 
quently from slight causes in their early education. 
Children who have experienced that submission to the 
will of others has constantly made them unhappy, will 
necessarily, by reasoning inversely, imagine, that feli- 
city consists in following their own free will. 

The French poet Boileau was made very unhappy by 
neglect and restraint during his education : when he 
grew up, he would never agree with those who talked 
to him of the pleasures of childhood.* " Pent on," 
disoit ce poete amoureux de Tindependence, " ne pas 
regarder comme im grand malheur, le chagrin continuel 
et particulier a cet age, de ne jamais faire sa volonte f 
It was in vain, continues his biographer, to boast to him 
of the advantages of this happy constraint, which saves 
youth from so many follies. " What signifies our know- 
ing the value of our chains when we have shaken them 
off, if we feel nothing but their weight while we wear 
them V the galled poet used to reply. Nor did Boileau 
enjoy his freedom, though he thought with such horror 
of his slavery. He declared, that if he had it in his 
choice, either to be born again upon the hard conditions 
of again going through his childhood, or not to exist, 
he would rather not exist : but he was not happy during 
any period of his existence ; he quarrelled with all the 
seasons of life ; " all seemed to him equally disagreea- 
ble ; youth, manhood, and old age, are each subject, he 
observed, to impetuous passions, to care, and to infirmi- 
ties." Hence we may conclude, that the severity of his 
education had not succeeded in teaching him to sub- 
mit philosophically to necessity, or yet in giving him 
much enjoyment from that liberty which he so much 
coveted. Thus it too often happens, that an imaginary 
value is set upon the exercise of the freewill by those 
who, during their childhood, have suffered under inju- 
dicious restrictions. Sometimes the love of freewill is 
so uncontrollably excited, even during childhood, that it 
breaks out, unfortunately both for the pupils and the pre- 
ceptors, in the formidable shape of obstinacy. 

Of all the faults to which children are subject, there 
is none which is more difficult to cure, or more easy to 
prevent, than obstinacy. As it is early observed by 
those who are engaged in education, it is sometimes 

* Histoire des Membres de l'Acad6mie, par M. d'Alembert. Tome 
troisieme, p. 24. 



140 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

supposed to be inherent in the temper ; but, so far from 
being naturally obstinate, infants show those strong pro- 
pensities to sympathy and imitation which prepare them 
for an opposite character. The folly of the nurse, how- 
ever, makes an intemperate use of these happy propen- 
sities. She perpetually torments the child to exert him- 
self for her amusement; all his senses and all his mus- 
cles she commands. He must see, hear, talk or be 
silent, move or be still, when she thinks proper; and 
often with the desire of amusing her charge, or of show- 
ing him off to the company, she disgusts him with vol- 
untary exertion. Before young children have com- 
pletely acquired the use of their limbs, they cannot per- 
form feats of activity or of dexterity at a moment's 
warning. Their muscles do not instantaneously obey 
their will ; the efforts they make are painful to them- 
selves ; the awkwardness of their attempts is painful to 
others ; the delay of the body is often mistaken for the 
reluctance of the mind; and the impatient tutor pro- 
nounces the child to be obstinate, while all the time he 
may be doing his utmost to obey. Instead of growing 
angry with the helpless child, it would be surely more 
wise to assist his feeble and inexperienced efforts. If 
we press him to make unsuccessful attempts, we shall 
associate pain both with voluntary exertion and with 
obedience. 

Little W (a boy of three years old) was one day 

asked by his father to jump. The boy stood stock 
still. Perhaps he did not know the meaning of the word 
jump. The father, instead of pressing him further, 
asked several other children who happened to be in the 
room to jump, and he jumped along with them : all this 
was done playfully. The little boy looked on silently 
for a short time, and seemed much pleased, " Papa 

jumps !" he exclaimed. His brother L lifted him 

up two or three times ; and he then tried to jump, 
and succeeded : from sympathy he learned the com- 
mand of the muscles which were necessary to his jump- 
ing, and to his obedience. If this boy had been im- 
portuned, or forced to exert himself, he might have 
been thus taught obstinacy, merely from the imprudent 
impatience of the spectators. The reluctance to stop 
when a child is once in tuotion, is often mistaken for 
obstinacy : when he is running, singing, laughing, or 
talking, if you suddenly command him to stop, he can- 



OBEDIENCE. 141 

not instantly obey you. If we reflect upon our own 
minds, we may perceive that we cannot, without con- 
siderable effort, turn our thoughts suddenly from any 
subject on which we have been long intent. If we have 
been long in a carriage, the noise of the wheels sounds 
in our ear, and we seem to be yet going on after the 
carriage has stopped. We do not pretend to found any 
accurate reasoning upon analogy ; but we may observe, 
the difficulty with which our minds are stopped or put 
in motion, resembles the vis^inertiae of the body. 

W (three years old) had for some minutes vocif- 
erated two or three words of a song, until the noise 
could be no longer patiently endured ; his father called 
to him, and desired that he would not make so much 

noise. W paused for a moment, but then went 

on singing the same words. His brother said. Hush ! 

W paused for another second or two ; but then 

went on with his roundelay. In his countenance there 
was not the slightest appearance of ill-humour. One 
of his sisters put him upon a board which was lying on 
the floor, and which was a little unsteady; as he walked 
cautiously along this board, his attention was occupied, 
and he forgot his song. 

This inability suddenly to desist from any occupation, 
may easily grow into obstinac}^ because the pain of 
checking themselves will be great in cliildren, and this 
pain will be associated with the commands of those 
who govern them ; it is better to stop them by present- 
ing new objects to their attention, than by the stimulus 
of a peremptory voice. Children should never be ac- 
cused of obstinacy ; the accusation cannot cure, but may 
superinduce the disease. If, unfortunately, they have 
been suff"ered to contract a disposition to this fault, it 
may be cured by a little patience and good temper. We 
have mentioned how example and sympathy may be 
advantageously used ; praise and looks of aff'ection, 
which naturally express our feeling when children do 
right, encourage the slightest efforts to obey ; but we 
must carefully avoid showing any triumph in our victory 
over yielding stubbornness. 

" Ay, I knew you would do what we desired at last, 
you might as well have done it at first," is a common 
nursery-maid's speech, which is well caculated to pique 
the pride of a half-subdued penitent. When children 



142 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

are made ashamed of submission, they will become in-* 
trepid, probably unconquerable rebels. 

Neither rewards nor punishments will then avail ; the 
pupil perceives, that both the wit and the strength of 
his master are set in competition with his : at the ex- 
pense of a certain degree of pain, he has the power to 
resist as long as he thinks proper ; and there is scarcely 
any degree of pain that a tutor dares to inflict, which 
an obstinate hero is not able to endure. With the spirit 
of a martyr, he sustains reproaches and torture. If, at 
length, the master changes liis tone, and tries to soften' 
and win the child to his purpose, his rewards are con- 
sidered as bribes : if the boy really thinks that he is in 
the right to rebel, he must yield his sense of honour to 
the force of temptation when he obeys. If he has 
formed no such idea of honour, he perhaps considers 
the reward as the price of his submission; and, upon a 
future occasion, he will know how to raise that price 
by prolonging his show of resistance. Where the child 
has formed a false idea of honour, his obstinacy is only 
mistaken resolution ; we should address ourselves to 
his understanding, and endeavour to convince him of his 
error. Where the understanding is convinced, and the 
habit of opposition still continues, we should carefully 
avoid calling his false associations into action ; we 
should not ask him to do any thing for which he has 
acquired an habitual aversion ; we should alter our man- 
ner of speaking to him, that neither the tones of our 
voice, the words, or the looks, which have been his 
customary signals for resistance, may recall the same 
feelings to his mind : placed in new circumstances, he 
may acquire new habits, and his old associates will in 
time be forgotten. Sufficient time must, however, be 
allowed; we may judge when it is prudent to try him 
on any old dangerous subjects, by many symptoms : by 
observing the degree of alacrity with which he obeys 
on indifferent occasions ; by observing what degree of 
command he has acquired over himself in general; by. 
observing in what manner he judges of the conduct and 
temper of other children in similar circumstances ; by 
observing whether the consciousness of his former self 
continues in full force. Children often completely for- 
get what they have been. 

Where obstinacy arises from principle, if we may use 



OBEDIENCE. 143 

the expression, it cannot be cured by the same means 
which are taken to cure that species of the disease 
which depends merely upon habit. The same courage 
and fortitude which in one case we reprobate, and try 
to conquer with all our might, in the other we admire 
and extol. This should be pointed out to children ; and 
if they act from a love of glory, as soon as they perceive 
it, they will follow that course which will secure to them 
the prize. 

Charles XII., whom the Turks, when incensed by his 
disobedience to the grand seignior, called Demir-bash, 
or head of iron, showed early symptoms of this head- 
strong nature ; yet in his childhood, if his preceptor* 
named but glory, any thing could be obtained from 
Charles. Charles had a great aversion to learning 
Latin ; but when he v/as told that the kings of Poland 
and Denmark understood it, he began to study it in 
good earnest. We do not mean to infer, that emulation 
with the kings of Poland and Denmark was the best 
possible motive which Charles XII. 's preceptor could 
have used, to make the young prince conquer his 
aversion to Latin ; but we would point out, that where 
the love of gloiy is connected with obstinate temper, 
the passion is more thnn a match for the temper. Let 
us but enlighten this love of glory, and we produce 
magnanimity in the place of obstinacy. Examples, in 
conversation and in books, of great characters, who 
have not been ashamed to change their opinions, and to 
acknowledge that they have been mistaken, will proba- 
bly make a great impression upon young people ; they 
will from these learn to admire candour, and will be 
taught that it is mean to persist in the wrong. Ex- 
amples from books must, however, be also uniformly 
supported by examples in real life ; preceptors and 
parents must practise the virtues which they preach. 
It is said that the amiable Fenelon acquired the most 
permanent influence over his pupil, by the candour with 
which he always treated him. Fenelon did not think 
that he could lessen his dignity by confessing himself 
to be in the wrong. 

Young people who have quick abilities, and who hap- 
pen to live with those who are inferior to them either 
in knowledge or in capacity, are apt to become positive 

" Voltaire's Hist. Charles XII. 



144 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and self-willed ; they measure all the world by the in- 
dividuals with whom they have measured themselves; 
and, HS they have been convinced that they have been 
in the right in many cases, they take it for granted that 
their judgment must be always infallible. This disease 
may be easily cured ; it is only necessary to place the 
patient among his superiors in intellect, his own ex- 
perience will work his cure : he liked to follow his will, 
because his judgment had taught him that he might trust 
more securely to the tact of his own understanding, than 
to the decision of others. As soon as he discovers more 
sense in the arguments of his companions, he will listen 
to them ; and if he finds their reason superior to his own, 
he will submit. A preceptor who vNishes to gain as- 
cendency over a clever positive boy, must reason vvith 
all possible precision, and must always show that he is 
willing to be decided by the strongest arguments which 
can be produced. If he ever prophesies, he sets his 
judgment at stake ; therefore he should not prophesy 
about matters of chance, but rather in alfxirs where he 
can calculate with certainty. If his prophecies are 
frequently accomplished, his pupil's confidence in him 
will rapidly increase ; and if he desires that confidence 
to be permanent, he will not aflect mystery, but he will 
honestly explain the circumstances by which he formed 
his opinions. Young people who are accustomed to 
hear and to give reasons for their opinions, will not be 
violent and positive in assertions ; they will not think 
that the truth of any assertion can be manifested by re- 
peating over the same words a thousand times ; they 
will not ask how many people are of this or that opinion, 
but rather what arguments are produced on each side. 
There is very little danger that any people, whether 
young or old, should continue to be positive, who are in 
the habit of exercising their reasoning faculty. 

It has been often observed that extremely good- 
humoured, complaisant children, when they grow up, 
become ill-tempered ; and young men who are gener- 
ally liked in society as pleasant companions, become 
surly, tyrannical masters in their own families, positive 
about mere trifles, and anxious to subjugate the loills of 
all who are any wise dependant upon them. This char- 
acter has been nicely touched by De Boissy, in his 
comedy called " Dehors trompeurs." 

We must observe, that while young people are in 



OBEDIENCE. 145 

company, and under the immediate influence of the ex- 
citements of novelty, numbers, and dissipation, it is 
scarcely possible to form a just estimate of the goodness 
of their temper. Young men who are the most ready 
to yield their inclinations to the humour of their com- 
panions, are not therefore to be considered as of really 
comphant dispositions ; the idle or indolent, who have 
no resources in their own minds, and no independent 
occupations, are victims to the yawning demon of ennui 
the moment they are left in solitude. They conse- 
quently dread so heartily to be left alone, that they 
readily give up a portion of their liberty to purchase the 
pleasures and mental support which society affords. 
When they give up their wishes, and follow the lead of 
the company, they in fact give up but very little ; their 
object is amusement ; and this obtained, their time is 
sacrificed without regret. On the contrary, those who 
are engaged in literary or professional pursuits, set a 
great value upon their time, and feel considerable reluc- 
tance to part with it without some adequate compensa- 
tion ; they must consequently be less complaisant com- 
panions, and by the generality of superficial observers, 
would be thought, perhaps, less complying in their tem- 
pers, than the idle and dissipated. But when the idle 
man has passed the common season for dissipation, and is 
settled in domestic life, his spirits flag from the want of 
his usual excitements ; and, as he has no amusements 
in his own family to purchase by the polite sacrifice of 
his opinion or his will, he is not inclined to complai- 
sance. The pleasure of exercising his freewill be- 
comes important in his eyes ; he has few pleasures, and 
of those few he is tenacious. He has been accustomed 
to submit to others in society ; he is proud to be master 
at home ; he has few emotions, and the emotion caused 
by the exertion of command becomes agreeable and 
necessary to him. Thus many of the same causes 
which make a young man a pleasant companion abroad, 
tend naturally to make him a tyrant at home. This 
perversity and positiveness of temper ultimately arises 
from the want of occupation, and from deficient energy 
of mind. We may guard agaitlst these evils by educa- 
tion : when we see a playful, active child, we have little 
fear of his temper. " Oh, he will certainly be good- 
tempered, he is the most obedient, complying creature 
in the world, he'll do any thing you ask him." But let 



146 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

US cultivate his understanding:, and give him tastes 
which shall occupy and interest him agreeably through 
life, or else this sweet, complying temper will not last 
till he is thirty. 

An ill-cured obstinacy of temper, when it breaks out 
after young people have arrived at years of discretion, 
is terrible. Those who attempt to conquer obstinacy 
in children by bodily pain, or by severe punishments of 
any kind, often appear to succeed, and to have entirely 
eradicated, when they have merely suppressed the dis- 
ease for a time. As soon as the child that is intimi- 
dated by force or fear is relieved from restraint, he will 
resume his former habits ; he may change the mode of 
showing it, but the disposition will continue the same. 
It will appear in various parts of the conduct, as the 
limbs of the giant appeared unexpectedly at difterent 
periods and in different parts of the Castle of Otranto. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON TRUTH. 

It is not necessary liere to pronounce a panegyric 
upon truth ; its use and value are thoroughly understood 
by all the world ; but we shall endeavour to give some 
practical advice, which may be of service in educating 
children, not only to the love, but to the habits, of in- 
tegrity. These are not always found, as they ought to 
be, inseparable. 

Rousseau's eloquence, and Locke's reasoning, have 
sufficiently reprobated, and it is to be hoped have ex- 
ploded, the system of lecturing children upon morality; 
of giving them precepts and general maxims which 
they do not understand, and which they cannot apply. 
We shall not produce long quotations from books which 
are in everybody's hands.* There is one particular in 
which Rousseau especially, and most other authors who 

* We refer to Locke s thoughts concerning Education, and Rou»* 
•eau's Emilias, vol. i. 



TRUTH. 147 

have written upon education, have given very dangerous 
counsel ; they have counselled parents to leach truth by 
falsehood. The privilege of using contrivance and in- 
genious deceptions, has been uniformly reserved for 
preceptors ; and the pupils, by moral delusions, and the 
theatric effect of circumstances treacherously arranged, 
are to be duped, surprised, and cheated into virtue. 
The dialogue between the gardener and Emilius about 
the Maltese melon-seed, is an instance of this method 
of instruction. Honest Robert, the gardener, in concert 
with the tutor, tells poor Emilius a series of lies, pre- 
pares a garden, " choice Maltese melon-seed,'' and 
" worthless beans," all to cheat the boy into just notions 
of the rights of property, and the nature of exchangee 
and barter. 

Part of the artificial course of ^oc^perience in that excel- 
lent work on education, Adela and Theodore, is defect- 
ive upon the same principle. There should be no 
moral delusions ; no arfificial course of experience; no 
plots laid by parents to make out the truth ; no listening 
fathers, mothers, or governesses ; no pretended con- 
fidence, or perfidious friends ; in one word, no falsehood 
should be practised : that magic which cheats the 
senses, at the same time confounds the understanding. 
The spells of Prospero, the strangeness of the isle, per- 
plex and confound the senses and understanding of all 
who are subjected to his magic, till at length, worked 
by force of wonders into credulity, his captives declare 
that they will believe any thing; " that there are men 
dewlapt like bulls ; and what else does want credit," 
says the Duke Anthonio, " come to me, and FU be sworn 
'tis true." 

Children whose simplicity has been practised upon 
by the fabling morality of their preceptors, begin by 
feeling something like the implicit credulity of Antho- 
nio ; but the arts of the preceptors are quickly suspected 
by their subjects, and the charm is for ever reversed. 
When once a child detects you in falsehood, you lose 
his confidence ; his incredulity will then be as extrava- 
gant as his former belief was gratuitous. It is in vain 
to expect, by the most eloquent manifestoes, or by the 
most secret leagues offensive and defensive, to conceal 
your real views, sentiments, and actions, from children. 
Their interest keeps their attention continually awake ; 
not a word, not a look, in which they are concerned^ 
G2 



148 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

escapes them ; they see, hear, and combine, with sag^a- 
cious rapidity ; if falsehood be in the wind, detection 
hunts her to discovery. 

Honesty is the best policy, must be the maxim in edu- 
cation, as well as in all the other affairs of life. We 
must not only be exact in speaking truth to our pupils, 
but to everybody else ; to acquaintance, to servants, to 
friends, to enemies. It is not here meant to enter any 
overstrained protest against the common phrases and 
forms of politeness ; the current coin may not be pure ; 
but when once its alloy has been ascertained, and its 
value appreciated, there is no fraud, tliough there may 
be some folly, in continuing to trade upon equal terms 
with our neighbours, with money of high nominal, and 
scarcely any real value. No fraud is committed by a 
gentleman's saying he is not at home, because no decep- 
tion is intended; the words are silly, but they mean, 
and are understood to mean, nothing more than that the 
person in question does not choose to see the visiters 
who knock at his door. " I am, sir, your obedient and 
humble servant," at the end of a letter, does not mean 
that the person who signs the letter is a servant, or hum- 
ble, or obedient, but it simply expresses that he knows 
how to conclude his letter according to the usual form 
of civility. Change this absurd phrase and welcome ; 
but do not let us, in the spirit of Draco, make no dis- 
tinction between errors and crimes. The foibles of 
fashion or folly are not to be treated with the detesta- 
tion due to hypocrisy and falsehood ; if small faults are 
to incur such grievous punishments, there can, indeed, be 
none found sufficiently severe for great crimes ; great 
crimes, consequently, for want of adequate punishment, 
will increase, and the little faults, that have met with 
disproportionate persecution, will become amiable and 
innocent in the eyes of commiserating human nature. 
It is not difficult to explain to young people the real 
meaning, or rather the nonsense, of a few complimentary- 
phrases ; their integrity will not be increased or di- 
minished by either saying, or omitting to say, " I am 
much obliged to you," or, " 1 shall be very happy to see 
you at dinner," &c. We do not mean to include in the 
harmless list of compliments, any expressions which are 
meant to deceive ; the conmion custom of the country, 
and of the society in which we live, sufficiently regu- 
lates the style of complimentary language ; and there 



TRUTH. 149 

are few so ignorant of the world as seriously to misun- 
derstand this, or to mistake civility for friendship. 

There is a story told of a Chinese mandarin, who 
paid a visit to a friend at Paris, at the time when Paris 
was the seat of politeness. His wellbred host, on the 
first evening of his arrival, gave him a handsome sup- 
per, lodged him in the best bedchamber, and when he 
wished him a good night, among other civil things, said 
he hoped the mandarin would, during his stay at Paris, 
consider that house as his own. Early next morning, 
the polite Parisian was awakened by the sound of loud 
hammering in the mandarin's bedchamber ; on enter- 
ing the room, he found the mandarin and some masons 
hard at work, throwing down the walls of the house. 
" You rascals, are you mad V exclaimed the French- 
man to the masons. " Not at all, my dear friend," said 
the Chinese man, soberly ; " I set the poor fellows to 
work ; this room is too small for my taste ; you see I 
have lost no time in availing myself of your goodness. 
Did not you desire me to use this house as if it were 
my own, during my stay at Paris V — " Assuredly, my 
dear friend, and so I hope you will," replied the French 
gentleman ; " the only misfortune here is, that I did not 
understand Chinese, and that I had no interpreter." 
They found an interpreter, or a Chinese dictionary, and 
when the Parisian phrase was properly translated, the 
mandarin, who was an honest man, begged his polite 
host's pardon for having pulled down the partition. It 
was rebuilt ; the mandarin learned French, and the two 
friends continued upon the best terms with each other 
during the remainder of the visit. 

The Chesterfieldian system of endeavouring to please 
by dissimulation is obviously distinguishable by any 
common capacity from the usual forms of civility. 
There is no liope of educating young people to a love 
of integrity in any family where this practice is adopted. 
If children observe that their parents deceive common 
acquaintance by pretending to like the company and to 
esteem the characters of those whom they really think 
disagreeable and contemptible, how can they learn to 
respect truth 1 How can children believe in the praise 
of their parents, if they detect them in continual flat- 
tery towards indifferent people 1 It may be thought by 
latitudinarians in politeness that we are too rigid in ex- 
pecting this strict adherence to truth from people who 



150 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

live in society ; it may be said that in practical educa'- 
tion, no such Utopian ideas of perfection should be sug^- 
gested. If we thought them Utopian, we certainly 
should not waste our time upon them ; but we do not 
here speak theoretically of what may be done, we speak 
of what has been done. Without the affectation of 
using a more sanctified language than other people — 
without departing from the common forms of society — 
without any painful, awkward efforts, we believe that 
parents may, in all their conversation in private and in 
public, set their children the uniform example of truth 
and integrity. 

We do not mean that the example of parents can 
alone produce this effect ; a number of other circum- 
stances must be combined. Servants must have no 
communication with children, if you wish to teach them 
the habit of speaking truth. The education, and cus- 
tom, and situation of servants, are at present such, that 
it is morally impossible to depend upon their veracity in 
their intercourse with children. Servants think it good- 
natured to try to excuse and conceal all the little faults 
of children ; to give them secret indulgences, and even 
positively to deny facts, in order to save them from 
blame or punishment. Even when they are not fond 
of the children, their example must be dangerous, be- 
cause servants do not scruple to falsify for their own 
advantage ; if thej'- break any thing, what a multitude 
of equivocations ! If they neglect any thing, what a 
variety of excuses ! What evasions, in actions or in 
words, do they continually invent ! 

It may be said, that as the Spartans taught their chil- 
dren to detest drunkenness, by showing them intoxi- 
cated Helots, we can make falsehood odious and con- 
temptible to our pupils, by the daily example of its mean 
deformity. But if children, before they can perceive 
the general advantage of integrity, and before they can 
understand the utility of truth, see the partial, imme- 
diate success of falsehood, how can they avoid believing 
in their own experience I If they see that servants es- 
cape blame and screen themselves from punishment by 
telHng falsehoods, they not only learn that falsehood 
preserves from pain, but they feel obliged to those who 
practise it for their sakes ; thus it is connected with the 
feelings of affection and of gratitude in their hearts, as 
well as with a sense of pleasure and safety. When 



TRUTH. 151 

Servants have exacted promises from their protigisi 
those promises cannot be broken without treachery ; 
thus deceit brings on deceit, and the ideas of truth and 
falsehood become confused and contradictory. In the 
chapter upon servants we have expatiated upon this 
subject, and have endeavoured to point out how all com- 
munication between children and servants maybe most 
effectually prevented. To that chapter, without further 
repetition, we refer. And now that we have adjusted 
the preliminaries concerning parents and servants, we 
may proceed with confidence. 

When young children first begin to speak, from not 
having a sufficient number of words to express their 
ideas, or from not having annexed precise ideas to the 
words which they are taught to use, they frequently 
make mistakes, which are attributed to the desire of de- 
ceiving. We should not precipitately suspect them of 
falsehood ; it is some time before they perfectly under- 
stand what we mean by truth. Small deviations should 
not be marked with too much rigour ; but whenever a 
child relates exactly any thing which he has seen, heard, 
or felt, we should listen with attention and pleasure, 
and we should not show the least doubt of his veracity. 
Rousseau is perfectly right in advising that children 
should never be questioned in any circumstances upon 
which it can be their interest to deceive. We should, 
at least, treat children with the same degree of wise 
lenity which the English law extends to all who have 
arrived at years of discretion. No criminal is bound to 
accuse himself. If any mischief has been committed, 
we should never, when we are uncertain by whom it 
has been done, either directly accuse, or betray injuri- 
ous suspicions. We should neither say to the child, 
"I believe you have done this," nor, "I believe you 
have not done this ;" we should say nothing ; the mis- 
chief is done, we cannot repair it ; because a glass is 
broken, we need not spoil a child ; we may put glasses 
out of his reach in future. If it should, however, hap- 
pen that a child voluntarily comes to us with the history 
of an accident, may no love of goods or chattels, of win- 
dows, of china, or even of looking-glasses, come in 
competition with our love of truth ! An angry word, 
an angry look, may intimidate the child, who has sum- 
moned all his little courage to make this confession. It 
is not requisite that parents should pretend to be pleased 



152 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and gratified with the destruction of their furniture, — 
but they may, it is to be hoped, witliout dissimulation, 
show that they set more value upon the integrity of their 
children than upon a looking-glass, and they will " keep 
their temper still, though china fall." 

H , one day when his father and mother were ab- 
sent from home, broke a looking-glass. As soon as he 
heard the sound of the returning carriage, he ran and 
posted himself at the hall door. His father, the moment 
he got out of the carriage, beheld his erect figure, and 
pale but intrepid countenance. •' Father," said the boy, 
" I have broke the best looking-glass in your house !" 
His father assured him that he would rather all the look- 
ing-glasses in his house should be broken, than that one 
of his children should attempt to make an excuse. 

H was most agreeably relieved from his anxiety by 

the kindness of his father's voice and manner, and still 
more so, perhaps, by perceiving that he rose in his es- 
teem. When the glass was examined, it appeared that 
the boy had neglected to produce all the circumstances 
in his own favour. Before he had begun to play at ball, 
he had had the precaution to turn the back of the look- 
ing-glass towards him ; his ball, however, accidentally 
struck against the wooden back, and broke the glass. 

H did not make out this favourable state of the case 

for himself at first ; he told it simply after the business 
was settled, seeming much more interested about the 
fate of the glass, than eager to exculpate himself. 

There is no great danger of teaching children to do 
mischief by this indulgence to tlieir accidental misfor- 
tunes. When they break or waste any thing from pure 
carelessness, let them, even when they speak the truth 
about it, suffer the natural consequences of their care- 
lessness ; but at the same time praise their integrity, 
and let them distinctly feel the difference between the 
slight inconvenience to which they expose themselves 
by speaking the truth, and the great disgrace to which 
falsehood would subject them. The pleasure of being 
esteemed and trusted is early felt, and the conscious- 
ness of deserving confidence is delightful to children ; 
but their young fortitude and courage should never be 
exposed to severe temptations. It is not sufficient to 
excite an admiration of truth by example, by eloquent 
praise, or by the just rewards of esteem and affection; 
we must take care to form the habits at the same time 



TRUTH. 153 

that we inspire the love of this virtue. Many children 
admire truth, and feel all the shame of telling falsehoods, 
who yet, either from habit or from fear, continue to tell 
lies. We must observe, that though the taste of praise 
is strong in childhood, yet it is not a match for any of 
the bodily appetites, when they are strongly excited. 
Those children who are restrained as to the choice or 
the quantity of their food, usually think that eating is a 
matter of vast consequence, and they are strongly 
tempted to be dishonest to gratify their appetites. Chil- 
dren do not understand the prudential maxims concern- 
ing health, upon which these restraints are founded ; and 
if they can, "by any indirection," obtain things which 
gratify their palate, they will. On the contrary, young 
people who are regularly let to eat and drink as much 
as they please, can have no temptation from hunger and 
thirst to deceive ; if they partake of the usual family 
meals, and if there are no whimsical distinctions be- 
tween wholesome and unwholesome dishes, or epicurean 
distinctions between rarities and plain food, the imagi- 
nation and the pride of children will not be roused about 
eating. Their pride is piqued, if they perceive that they 
are prohibited from touching what groivn-up people are 
privileged to eat; their imagination is set to work by 
seeing any extraordinary difference made by judges of 
eating between one species of food and another. In 
families where a regularly good table is kept, children 
accustomed to the sight and taste of all kinds of food 
are seldom delicate, capricious, or disposed to exceed ; 
but in houses where entertainments are made from time 
to time with great bustle and anxiety, fine clothes, and 
company-manners, and company-faces, and all that po- 
liteness can do to give the appearance of festivity, de- 
ceive children at least, and make them imagine that 
there is some extraordinary joy in seeing a greater num- 
ber of dishes than usual upon the table. Upon these 
occasions, incijpd, the pleasure is to them substantial ; 
they eat more, they eat a greater variety, and of things 
that please them better than usual ; the pleasure of eat- 
ing is associated with unusual cheerfulness, and thus 
the imagination and the reality conspire to make them 
epicures. To these children, the temptations to deceive 
about sweetmeats and dainties are beyond measure 
great, especially as illbred strangers commonly show 
their affection for them by pressing them to eat what 
G3 



154 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

they are not allowed to say " If you please'" to. Rousseau 
thinks all children are gluttons. All children may be 
rendered gluttons ; but few who are properly treated 
with respect to food, and who have any literary tastes, 
can be in danger of continuing to be fond of eating. We 
therefore, without hesitation, recommend it to parents 
never to hazard the truth and honour of their pupils by 
prohibitions, which seldom produce any of the effects 
that are expected. 

Children are sometimes injudiciously restrained with 
regard to exercise ; they are required to promise to 
keep within certain boundaries when they are sent out 
to play ; these promises are often broken with impunity, 
and thus the children learn habits of successful deceit. 
Instead of circumscribing their play-grounds, as they 
are sometimes called, by narrow inconvenient linjits, we 
should allow them as much space as we can with con- 
venience, and at all events exact no promises. We 
should absolutely make it impossible for them to go 
without detection into any place which we forbid. It 
requires some patience and activity in preceptors ta 
take all the necessary precautions in issuing orders, but 
these precautions will be more useful in preserving the 
integrity of their pupils, than the most severe punish- 
ments that can be devised. We are not so unreason- 
able as to expect, wiih some theoretic writers on edu- 
cation, that tutors and parents should sacrifice the whole 
of their timt^, to the convenience, amusement, and edu- 
cation of their pupils. This would be putting one set 
of beings " sadlij over the head of anolher .•" but if pa- 
rents would, as much as possible, mix their occupations 
and recreations with those of their children, besides 
many other advantages which have been elsewhere 
pointed out with respect to the improvement of the un- 
derstanding, they would secure them from many tempt- 
ations to falsehood. They should be encouraged to 
talk freely of all their amusements to thej^ parents, and 
to ask them for whatever they want to complete their 
little inventions. Instead of banishing all the freedom 
of wit and humour by the austerity of his presence, a 
preceptor, with superior talents, and all the resources 
of property in his favour, might easily become the 
arbiter deliciarum of his pupils. 

When young people begin to taste the pleasures of 
praise, and to feel the strong excitations of emulatioa 



TRUTH. 155 

and ambition, their integrity is exposed to a new species 
of temptation. They are tempted, not only by the hope 
of obtaining " well-earned praise," but by the desire to 
obtain praise without the labour of earning it. In large 
schools, where boys assist each other in their literary 
exercises, and in all private families where masters are 
allowed to show off the accotnplishments of young 
gentlemen and ladies, there are so many temptations to 
fraudulent exhibitions, that we despair of guarding 
against their consequences. The best possible method 
is to inspire children with a generous contempt for flat- 
tery, and to teach them to judge impartially of their own 
merits. If we are exact in the measure of approbation 
M'hich we bestow^ they will hence form a scale by which 
they can estimate the sincerity of other people. It is 
said* that the preceptor of the Duke of Burgundy suc- 
ceeded so well in inspiring hmi with disdain for un- 
merited praise, that when the duke was oidy nine years 
old he one day called his tutor to account for having 
concealed some of his childish faults ; and when this 
promising boy and singular prince was asked, '' Why he 
disliked one of his courtiers," he answered, " Because 
he flatters me." Anecdotes like these will make a use- 
ful impression upon children. The life of Cyrus, in the 
Cyropasdia ; several passages in Plutarch's Lives; and 
the lively, interesting picture which Sully draws of his 
noble-hearted master's love of truth, will strongly com- 
mand the admiration of young people, if they read them 
at a proper time of life. We must, however, wait for 
this proper time ; fur if these things are read too early, 
they lose all their eftect. Without any lectures upon 
the beauty of truth, we may, now and then in conversa- 
tion, when occurrences in real life naturally lead to the 
subject, express with energy our esteem for integrity. 
The approbation which we bestow upon those who give 
proofs of integrity, should be quite in a different tone, 
in a much higher style of praise, than any commenda- 
tions for trifling accomplishments ; hence children will 
become more ambitious to obtain a reputation for truth> 
than for any other less honourable and less honoured 
qualification. 



* S 36 The Life of the Duke of Burgundy in Madame de la File's 
agreeable and instructive work for Children, " Contes, Draiiies»et 
iCntretiens," «Scc. 



156 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

We will venture to give two or three slight instances 
of the unaffected truth and simplicity of mind which 
we have seen in children educated upon these principles. 
No good-natured reader will suspect, that they are pro- 
duced from ostentation : whenever the children, who 
are mentioned, see this in print, it is ten to one that 
they will not be surprised at their own good deeds. 
They will be a little surprised, probably, that it should 
have been thought worth while to record things wliich 
are only what they see and feel every day. It is this 
character of everyday goodness which we wish to rep- 
resent ; not any fine thoughts, fine sentiments, or fine 
actions, which come out for holyday admiration. We 
wish that parents, in reading any of these little anec- 
dotes, may never exclaim, " Oh that's charming, that's 
surprising for a child /" but we wish that they may 
■sometimes smile, and say, " That's very natural ; I am 
sure that is perfectly true ; my little boy, or my little 
girl, say and do just such things continually." 

March, 1792. We were at Clifton ; the river Avon 
ran close under the windows of our house in Prince's 
Place, and the children used to be much amused with 
looking at the vessels which came up the river. One 
night a ship, that was sailing by the windows, fired some 
of her guns ; the children, who were looking out of the 
windows, were asked " why the liglit was seen when the 

guns were fired before the noise was heard 1" C , who 

at this time was nine years old, answered, " Because light 
comes quicker to the eye than sound to the ear." Her 
father was extremely pleased with this answer ; but 
just as he was going to kiss her, the little girl said, 

*' Father, the reason of my knowing it was, that L 

(her elder brother) just before had told it to me." 

There is, it is usually found, most temptation for chil- 
dren to deceive when they are put in competition with 
each other, when their ambition is excited by the same 
object ; but if the transient glory of excelling in quick- 
ness, or abilities of any sort, be much inferior to the per- 
manent honour which is secured by integrity, there is, 
even in competition, no danger of unfair play. 

March, 1792. One evening called the children 

round the tea-table, and told them the following story, 
which he had just met with in " The Curiosities of Lit- 
erature." 

When the queen of Sheba went to visit king Solomon, 



TRUTH. 157 

she one day presented herself before his throne with a 
wreath of real flowers in one hand, and a wreath of arti- 
ficial flowers in the other hand ; the artificial flowers 
were made so exactly to resemble nature, that at the 
distance at which they were held from Solomon, it was 
scarcely possible that his eye could distinguish any dif- 
ference between them and the natural flowers ; nor could 
he, at the distance at which they were held from him, 
know them asunder by their smell. " Which of these 
two wreaths," demanded the queen of Sheba, " is the 
work of nature r' Solomon reflected for some minutes ; 

and how did he discover which was real? S (five 

years old) replied, " Perhaps he went out of the room 
very softly^ and if the woman stood near the door, as he 
went near her, he might see better.'''' 

Father. But Solomon was not to move from his place. 

S . Then he might wait till the woman was tired 

of holding them, and then perhaps she might lay them 
down on the table, and then perhaps he might see better. 

Father. Well, C , what do you say 1 

C . I think he might have looked at the stalks, 

and have seen which looked stiff like wire, and which 
were bent down by the weight of the natural flowers. 

Father. Well, H ? 

H . (ten years old.) I think he might send for 

a great pair of bellows, and blow, blow, till the real 
leaves dropped off". 

Father. But would it not have been somewhat un- 
civil of Solomon to blow, bloiv, with his great pair of bel- 
lows, full in the queen of Sheba's face 1 

H . (doubting.) Yes, yes. Well, then he might 

have sent for a telescope, or a magnifying glass, and 
looked through it ; and then he could have seen which 
were the real flowers, and which were artificial. 

Father. Well, B , and what do you say 1 

B . (eleven years old.) He might have waited 

till the queen moved the flowers, and then, if he listened, 
he might hear the rustling of the artificial ones. 

Father. S , have you any thing more to say T 

S repeated the same thing that B had said ; 

his attention was dissipated by hearing the other chil- 
dren speak. During this pause, while S was trying 

to collect his thoughts, IMrs. E whispered to some- 
body near her, and accidentally said the word animals 
loud enough to be overheard. 



158 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Father. Well, H , you look as if you had some- 
thing to say"? 
// . Father, I heard my mother say something, 

and thai made me think of the rest. 

Mrs. E shook hands with H , and praised him 

for this instrince of integrity. H then said that " he 

supposed Solomon thought of some animal which would 
feed upon flowers, and sent it to the two nosegays ; and 
then the animal would stay upon the real flowers." 

Father. What animal ? 

7/ . A fly. 

Father. Think again. 

// . A bee. 

Father. Yes. 

The story says, that Solomon, seeing some bees hover 
about the window, ordered the window to be thrown 
open, and watched upon which wreath of flowers the 
bees settled. 

August 1st, 179G. S (nine years old), when he 

was reading in Ovid the fable of Perseus and Androm- 
eda, said that he wondered that Perseus fought with the 
monster ; he wondered that Perseus did not turn him 
into stone at once with his Gorgon shield. We believe 
that S saw that his father was pleased with this ob- 
servation. A few days afterward somebody in the 

family recollected Mr. E 's having said, that when 

he was a boy he thought Perseus a simpleton for not 
making use of the Gorgon's head to turn the monster 

into stone. We were not sure whetiier S had 

heard Mr. E say this or not; ]\Ir. E asked him 

whether he recollected to have heard any such thing. 
S answered, without hesitation, that he did re- 
member it. 

When children have formed habits of speaking truth, 
and when we see that these habits are grown quite easy 
to them, we may venture to question them about their, 
thoughts and feelings; this must, however, be done 
with great caution, but without the appearance of anx- 
iety or suspicion. Children are alarmed if they see that 
you are very anxious and injpatient for their answer ; 
they think that they hazard much by their reply ; they 
hesitate, and look eagerly in your face, to discover by 
your countenance what they ought to think and feel, 
and what sort of answer you expect. All who are gov- 
erned by any species of fear are disposed to equivoca- 



TRUTH. 169 

tion. Among thelowerclass of Irish labourers and under- 
tenants, a class of people who are much oppressed, you 
can scarcely meet with any man who will give you a 
direct answer to the most indifferent question ; their 
whole ingenuity, and they have a great deal of inge- 
nuity, is upon the qui vive with you the instant you 
begin to speak ; they either pretend not to hear, that 
they may gain time to think, while you repeat your 
question, or they reply to you with a fresh question, to 
draw out your remote meaning; for tliey, judging by 
their own habits, always think you have a remote 
meaning; and they never can believe that your words 
have no intention to insnare. Simplicity puzzles them 
much more than wit : for instance, if you were to ask 
the most direct and harmless question, as, " Did it rain 
yesterday I" the first answer would probably be, "Is it 
yesterday you mean V — " Yes." — " Yesterday ! No, 
please yow'c honour I was not at the bog at all yester- 
day. Wasn't I after setting my potatoes ? Sure I did 
not know your honour wanted me at all yesterday. 
Upon my conscience, there's not a man in the country, 
let alone all Ireland, I'd sooner serve than your honour, 
any day in the year; and they have belied me that went 
behind my back to tell your honour the contrary. If 
your honour sent after me, sure 1 never gnt theuwrd^ I'll 
take my affidavit, or Td been at the bog." — " My good 
friend, 1 don't know what you mean about the bog ; I 
only ask you whether it rained yesterday." — " Please 
your honour, I couldn't get a car and horse any way, to 
draw home my little straw, or I'd have had the house 
thatched long' ago." — " Cannot you give me a plain 
answer to this plain question '? Did it rain yesterday!" 
" Oh sure, 1 wouldn't go to tell your honour a lie about 
the matter. Sarrah much it rained yesterday after 
twelve o'clock, barring a iew showers ; but in the night 
there was a great fall of rain any how ; and that was the 
reason prevented my going to Dublin yesterday, for 
fear the mistress's bandbox should get wet upon my 
cars. But, please your honour, if your honour's dis- 
pleased about it, I'll not be waiting for a loading; I'll 
take my car and go to Dubhn to-morrow for the slates, 
if that be what your honour means. Oh sure, I would 
not tell a lie -for the entire price of the slates ; I know- 
very well it didn't rain to call rain yesterday. But after 
twelve o'clock, I don't say i noticed one v/ay or other.'* 



160 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

In this perverse and ludicrous method of beating about 

the bush, the man would persist till he had fairly ex- 
hausted your patience ; and all this he would do, partly 
from cunning, and partly from that apprehension of in- 
justice which he has been taught to feel by hard expe- 
rience. The effects of the example of their parents are 
early and most strikingly visible in the children of this 
class of people in Ireland. The children, who are re- 
markably quick and intelligent, are universally addicted 
to lying. We do not here scruple or hesitate in the 
choice of our terms, because we are convinced that this 
unquahfied assertion would not shock the feelings of 
the parties concerned. These poor children are not 
brought up to think falsehood a disgrace ; they are 
praised for the ingenuity with which they escape from 
the cross-examination of their superiors; and their 
capacities are admired in proportion to the aciUeness, or, 
as their parents pronounce it, xuteness, of their equivo- 
cating replies. Sometimes (the garqon*) the little boy 
of the family is despatched by his mother to the land- 
lord's neighbouring bog or turf-rick, to bring home^ in 
their phraseology, in ours to steal, a few turfs ; if, upon 
this expedition, the little Spartan be detected, he is tol- 
erably certain of being whipped by his mother, or some 
of his friends, upon his return home. " Ah, ye little 
brat ! and what made ye tell the gentleman when he met 
ye, ye rogue, that ye were going to the rick ] And what 
business had ye to go and belie me to his honour, ye 
unnatural piece of goods ! Til teach ye to make mis- 
chief through the country ! So I will. Have ye got no 
better sense and manners at this time o' day, than to be- 
have, when one trusts yo abroad, so like an innocent T' 
An innocent in Ireland, as formerly in England (wit- 
ness the Rape of the Lock), is synonymous with a fool. 
"And fools and innocents shall still believe." 

The associations of pleasure, of pride, and gayety, are 
so strong in the minds of these well-educated children, 
that they sometimes expect the very people who suffer 
by their dishonesty should sympathize in the self-com- 
placency they feel from roguery. A gentleman riding 
near his own house in Ireland, saw a cow's head and 
forefeet appear at the top of a ditch, through a gap in 
the hedge by the road's side ; at the same time he heard 

* Pronounced gossoon. 



TRUTH. 161 

a voice alternately threatening and encouraging the 
cow; the gentleman rode up closer to the scene of 
action, and he saw a boy's head appear behind the cow. 
" My good boy," said he, " that's a fine cow." — " Oh 
faith, that she is," replied the boy, " and I'm teaching 
her to get her own living, please your honour." The 
gentleman did not precisely understand the meaning of 
the expression, and had he directly asked for an expla- 
nation, would probably have died in ignorance ; but the 
boy, proud of his cow, encouraged an exhibition of her 
talents ; she was made to jump across the ditch several 
times ; and this adroitness in breaking through fences 
was termed " getting her own living." As soon as the 
cow's education is finished, she may be sent loose into 
the world to provide for herself; turned to graze in the 
poorest pasture, she will be able and willing to live upon 
the fat of the land. 

It is curious to observe how regularly the same moral 
causes produce the same temper and character. We 
talk of climate, and frequently attribute to climate the 
diff'erent dispositions of diff'erent nations : the climate 
of Ireland and that of the West Indies are not pre- 
cisely similar, yet the following description, which Mr. 
Edwards, in his History of the West Indies, gives of the 
propensity to falsehood among the negro slaves, might 
stand, word for word, for a character of that class of the 
Irish people who, until very lately, actually, not meta- 
phorically, called themselves slaves. 

" If a negro is asked even an indifferent question by 
his master, he seldom gives an immediate reply ; but 
affecting not to understand what is said, compels a rep- 
etition of the question, that he may have time to con- 
sider, not what is the true answer, but what is the most 
politic one for him to give." 

Mr. Edwards assures us, that many of these un- 
fortunate negroes learn cowardice and falsehood after 
they become slaves. When they first come from Africa, 
many of them show " a frank and fearless temper ;"* 
but all distinction of character among the native Afri- 
cans is soon lost, under the levelling influence of slavery. 
Oppression and terror necessarily produce meanness 
and deceit, in all climates and in all ages ; and wher- 
ever fear is the governing motive in education, we must 

* Edwards's History of the West Indies, vol. ii. 



163 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

expect to find in children a propensity to dissimulation, 
if not confirmed habits of falsehood. Look at the true- 
born Briton under the government of a tyrannical peda- 
gogue, and listen to the language of inborn truth ; in 
the whining tone, in the pitiful evasion, in the stubborn 
falsehoods which you hear from the schoolboy, can 
you discover any of that innate dignity of soul which is 
the boasted national characteristic ] Look again ; look 
at the same boy in the company of those who inspire 
no terror ; in the company of his schoolfellows, of his 
friends, of his parents ; would you know him to be the 
same being? his countenance is open; his attitude 
erect ; his voice firm ; his language free and fluent ; his 
thoughts are upon his lips ; he speaks truth without 
effort, without fear. Where individuals are oppressed, 
or where they believe that they are oppressed, they 
combine against their oppressors, and oppose cunning 
and falsehood to power and force ; they think themselves 
released from the compact of truth with their masters, 
and bind themselves in a strict league with each other; 
thus schoolboys hold no faith with their schoolmaster, 
though they would think it shameful to be dishonourable 
among each other. We do not think that these max- 
ims are the peculiar growth of schools ; in private fami- 
lies the same feelings are to be found under the same 
species of culture : if preceptors or parents are unjust 
or tyrannical, their pupils will contrive to conceal from 
them their actions and their thoughts. On the con- 
trary, in families where sincerity has been encouraged 
by the voice of praise and affection, a generous freedom 
of conversation and countenance appears, and the young 
people talk to each other, and to their parents, with- 
out distinction or reserve ; without any distinction but 
such as superior esteem and respect dictate. These are 
feelings totally distinct from servile fear: these feelings 
inspire the love of truth, the ambition to acquire and 
to preserve character. 

The value of a character for truth should be dis- 
tinctly felt by children in their own family: while they 
were very young, we advised that their integrity should 
not be tempted ; as they grow up, trust should by de- 
grees be put in them, and we should distinctly explain 
to them, that our confidence is to be deserved before it 
can be given. Oia* belief in any person's truth is not a 
matter of affection, but of experience and necessity ; 



TRUTH. 163 

we cannot doubt the assertions of any person whom we 
have found to speak uniformly the truth ; we cannot be- 
lieve any person, let us wish to do it ever so much, if 
we have detected him in falsehoods. Before we have 
had experience of a person's integrity, we may hope, or 
take it for granted, that he is perfectly sincere and 
honest ; but we cannot feel more than belief upon trusty 
until we have actually seen his integrity tried. We 
should not pretend that we have faith in our pupils be- 
fore we have tried them ; we may hope from their 
habits, from the examples they have seen, and from the 
advantageous manner in which truth has always been 
represented to them, that they will act honourably ; this 
hope is natural and just, but confidence is another feeling 
of the mind. The first time we trust a child, we should 
not say, " I am sure j'ou will not deceive me; 1 can 
trust you with any thing in the world." This is flattery 
or folly ; it is paying beforehand, which is not the way 
to get business done ; why cannot we, especially as we 
are teaching truth, say the thing that is — " I hope you 
will not deceive me. If I find that you may be trusted, 
you know I shall be able to trust you another time : this 
must depend upon you, not entirely upon me." We 
must make ourselves certain, upon these occasions, how 
the child conducts himself; nor is it necessary to use 
any artifice, or to aff"ect, from false delicacy, any secu- 
rity that we do not feel ; it is better openly to say, " You 
see I do you the justice to examine carefully how you 
have conducted yourself; I wish to be able to trust you 
another time." 

It may be said, that this method of strict inquiry re- 
duces a trust to no trust at all, and that it betrays sus- 
picion. If you examine evidently with the belief that a 
child has deceived you, certainly you betray injurious 
suspicion, and you educate the child very ill ; but if you 
feel and express a strong desire to find that your pupil 
has conducted himself honourably, he will be glad and 
proud of the strictest scrutiny ; he will feel that he has 
earned your future confidence; and this confidence, which 
he clearly knows how he has obtained, will be more 
vali7%Lble to him than all the belief upon trust which you 
could affect to feel. By degrees, after your pupil has 
taught you to depend upon him, your confidence will 
prevent the necessity of any examination into his con- 
duct. This is the just and delightful reward of integ- 



164 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

rity ; children know how to feel and understand it 
thoroughly : besides the many restraints from which 
our confidence will naturally relieve them, they feel the 
pride of being trusted; the honour of having a charac- 
ter for integrity : nor can it be too strongly impressed 
upon their minds, that this character must be preserved, 
as it was obtained, by their own conduct. If one link 
in the chain of confidence be broken, the whole is 
destroyed. Indeed, where habits of truth are early 
formed, we may safely depend upon them. A young 
person who has never deceived, would see that the 
first step in falsehood costs too much to be hazarded. 
Let this appear in the form of calculation rather than 
of sentiment. To habit, to enthusiasm, we owe nmch 
of all our virtues — to reason more ; and the more of 
them we owe to reason, the better. Habit and enthu- 
siasm are subject to sudden or gradual changes — but 
reason continues for ever the same. As the under- 
standing unfolds, we should fortify all our pupil's habits 
and virtuous enthusiasm by the conviction of their 
utility, of their being essential to the happiness of so- 
ciety in general, and conducive immediately to the 
happiness of every individual. Possessed of this con- 
viction, and provided with substantial arguments in its 
support, young people will not be exposed to danger, 
either from sophistry or ridicule. 

Ridicule certainly is not the test of truth ; but it is a 
test which truth sometimes finds it difficult to stand. 
Vice never "bolts her arguments" with more success 
than when she assumes the air of raillery and the tone 
of gayety. All vivacious young people are fond of wit ; 
we do not mean children, for they do not understand it. 
Those who have the best capacities, and the strict- 
est habits of veracity, often appear to common ob- 
servers absolutely stupid, from their aversion to any 
play upon words, and from the literal simplicity with 
which they believe every thing that is asserted. A re- 
markably intelligent little girl of four years old, who 
had never in her own family been used to the common 
phrases which sometimes pass for humour, happened to 
hear a gentleman say, as he looked out of the window 
one rainy morning, " It rains cats and dogs to-day." 
The child, with a surprised but believing look, inmiedi- 
ately went to look out of the window to see the phenom- 
enon. This extreme simplicity in childhood is some- 



TRUTH. 165^ 

times succeeded in youth by a strong taste for wit and 
humour. Young people are, in the first place, proud to 
show that they understand them ; and they are gratified 
by the perception of a new intellectual pleasure. At 
this period of their education, great attention must be 
paid to them, lest their admiration for wit and frolic 
should diminish their reverence and their love for sober 
truth. In many engaging characters in society, and in 
many entertaining books, deceit and dishonesty are asso- 
ciated with superior abilities, with ease and gayety of 
manners, and with a certain air of frank carelessness, 
which can scarcely fail to please. Gil Bias,* Tom 
Jones, Lovelace, Count Fathom, are all of this class of 
characters. They should not be introduced to our 
pupils till their habits of integrity are thoroughly formed ; 
and till they are sufficiently skilful in analyzing their own 
feelings, to distinguish whence their approbation and 
pleasure in reading of these characters arise. In books, 
we do not actually suffer by the tricks of rogues, or by 
the lies they tell. Hence their truth is to us a quality 
of no value ; but their wit, humour, and the ingenuity 
of their contrivances, are of great value to us, because 
they afford us entertainment. The most honest man in 
the universe may not have had half so many adventures 
as the greatest rogue in a romance ; the history upon 
oath of all the honest man's bargains and sales, law- 
suits and losses ; nay, even a complete view of his 
leger and daybook, together with the regular balan- 
cings of his accounts, would probably not afford quite 
so much entertainment, even to a reader of the most un- 
blemished integrity and phlegmatic temper, as the ad- 
ventures of Gil Bias, and Jonathan Wild, adorned with 
all the wit of Le Sage, and humour of Fielding. When 
Gil Bias lays open his whole heart to us, and tells us all 
his sins, unwhipped of justice, we give him credit for 
making us his confidant, and we forget that this sin- 
cerity, and these liberal confessions, are not character- 
istic of the hero's disposition, but essential only to the 
novel. The novel-writer could not tell us all he had 
to say without this dying confession, and inconsist- 
ent openness, from his accomphshed villain. The 
reader is ready enough to forgive, having never been 
duped. When young people can make all these reflections 

* See Mrs. Macauley's Letters on Educatioa 



166 PRACTICAL EDUCATIOxV. 

for themselves, they may read Gil Bias with as much 
safety as the Life of Franklin, or any other the most 
moral performance, " Tout est sain aiix sains,"* as 
Madame de Sevigne very judiciously observes, in one 
of her letters upon the choice of books for her grand- 
daugliter. We refer for more detailed observations 
upon this subject to the chapter upon Books. 13ut we 
cannot help here reiterating our advice to preceptors, 
not to force the detestable characters, which are some- 
times held up to admiration in ancient and modern 
history, upon the common sense, or, if they please, 
the moral feelings of their pupils. The bad ac- 
tions of great characters should not be palliated by 
eloquence, and fraud and villany should never be ex- 
plained away by the hero's or warrior's code ; a code 
which confounds all just ideas of right and wrong. 
Boys, in reading the classics, must read of a variety of 
crimes ; but that is no reason that they should approve 
of them, or that their tutors should undertake to vindi- 
cate the cause of falsehood and treachery. A gentle- 
man who has taught liis sons Latin, has uniformly pur- 
sued the practice of abandoning to the just and prompt 
indignation of his young pupils all the ancient heroes 
who are deficient in moral honesty : his sons, in read- 
ing Cornelius Nepos, could not absolutely comprehend, 
that the treachery of Themistocles or of Alcibiades 
could be applauded by a wise and polished nation. 
Xenophon has made an eloquent attempt to explain the 
nature of military good faith. Cambyses tells his son, 
that, in taking advantage of an enemy, he must be 
" crafty, deceitful, a dissembler, a thief, and a robber-2' 
Oh .lupiter! exclaims the young Cyrus, what a man, 
my father, you say I must be ! And he very sensibly 
asks his father, why, if it be necessary in some cases to 
insnare and deceive men, he had not in his childhood 
been taught by his preceptors the art of doing harm to 
his fellow-creatures, as well as of doing them good. 
"And why," says Cyrus, " have I always been punished 
whenever 1 have been discovered in practising deceit 1" 
The answers of Cambyses are by no means satisfactory 
upon this subject ; nor do we think that the conversa- 
tion between the old general and Mr. Williams,t could 

* Every thing is hcaltliAil to the healthy. 

t See Mr. Williams's Lectures on Education, where Xenophon is 
quoted, page 16, &.c. vol. ii.— also, page 31. 



TRUTH. 167 

have made the matter perfectly intelligible to the young 
gentleman, whose scrupulous integrity made him object 
to the military profession. 

It is certain, that many persons of strict honour and 
honesty in some points, on others are utterly inconsist- 
ent in their principles. Thus it is said, tiiat private in- 
tegrity and public corruption frequently meet in the 
same character : thus some gentlemen are jockeys, and 
they have a convenient latitude of conscience as jockeys, 
while they would not for the universe cheat a man of a 
guinea in any way but in the sale of a horse : others in 
gambling, others in love, others in war, think all strata- 
gems fair. We endeavour to think that these are all 
honourable men ; but we hope that we are not obliged 
to lay down rules for the formation of such moral prod- 
igies, in a system of practical education. 

We are aware, that with children* who are educated 
at public schools, truth and integrity cannot be taught 
precisely in the same manner as in private families ; 
.because ushers and schoolmasters cannot pay the same 
hourly attention to each of their pupils, nor have they 
the commandof all the necessary circumstances. There 
are, however, some advantages attending the early com- 
merce which numbers of children at public seminaries 
have with each other ; they find that no society can sub- 
sist without truth ; they feel the utihty of this virtue, and 
however they may deal with their masters, they learn 
to speak truth towards each other. This partial spe- 
cies of honesty, or rather of honour, is not the very best 
of its kind, but it may easily be improved into a more 
rational principle of action. It is illiberal to assert, that 
any virtue is to be taught only by one process of edu- 
cation: many different methods of education may pro- 
duce the same effects. Men of integrity and honour 
have been formed both by private and public education ; 
neither system should be exclusively supported by those 
who really wish well to the improvement of mankind. 
All the errors of each system should be impartially pointed 
out, and such remedies as may most easily be adopted 
with any hope of success, should be proposed. We 
think, that if parents paid sufficient attention to the 
habits of their children, from the age of three to seven 
years old, they would be properly prepared for public 

* Vide Williams. 



16S PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

education ; tliey would not then bring with them to pub- 
lic schools all that they iiave learned of vice and false- 
hood in the company of servants.* We have purposely 
repeated all this, in hopes of impressing it strongly. 
May we suggest to the masters of these important sem- 
inaries, that Greek and Latin, and all the elegance of 
classical literature, are matters but of secondary conse- 
quence, compared with those habits of truth, which are 
essential to the character and happiness of their pupils'? 
By rewarding the moral virtues more highly than the 
mere display of talents, a generous emulation to excel 
in these virtues may with certainty be excited. 

Many preceptors and parents will readily agree^ that 
Bacon, in his " general distribution of human knowl- 
edge," was perfectly right not to omit that branch of 
philosophy which his lordship terms " The doctrine of 
rising in the ivorld.'" To this art, integrity at length be- 
comes necessary ; for talents, whether for business or 
for oratory, are now become so cheap, that they cannot 
alone ensure pre-eminence to their possessors. The pub- 
lic opinion, which in England bestows celebrity, and ne- 
cessarily leads to honour, is intimately connected with 
the public confidence. Public confidence is not the same 
thing as popularity ; the one may be won, the other must 
be earned. There is among all parties, who at present 
aim at political power, an unsatisfied demand for honest 
men. Those who speculate in this line for their chil- 
dren, will do wisely to keep this fact in their remem- 
brance during their whole education. 

We have delayed, from a full consciousness of the 
difficulty of the undertaking, to speak of the method of 
curing either the habits or the propensity to falsehood. 
Physicians, for mental as well as bodily diseases, can 
give long histories of maladies ; but are surprisingly 
concise when they come to treat of the method of cure. 
With patients of different ages and different tempera- 
ments, to speak with due medical solemnity, we should 
advise different remedies. With young children, we 
should be most anxious to break the habits ; with chil- 
dren at a more advanced period of their education, we 
should be most careful to rectify the principles. Chil- 
dren, before they reason, act merely from habit ; and 

* See Servants, and " P4Ablic and Private Education." 



TRtJTH. 169 

without having acquired command over themselves, they 
have no power to break their own habits ; but when 
young people reflect and deliberate, their principles are 
of much more importance than their habits, because 
their principles, in fact, in most cases, govern their 
habits. It is in consequence of their deliberations and 
reflections that they act ; and, before we can change 
their way of acting, we must change their way of think- 
ing. 

To break habits of falsehood in young children, let us 
begin by removing the temptation, whatever it may be. 
For instance, if the child have the habit of denying that 
he has seen, heard, or done things which he has seen, 
heard, and done, we must not, upon any account, ever 
question him about any of these particulars ; but we 
should forbear to give him any pleasure which he might 
hope to obtain by our faith in his assertions. Without 
entering into any explanations, we should absolutely* 
disregard what he says, and with looks of cool contempt, 
turn away without listening to his falsities. A total 
change of occupations, new objects, especially such as 
excite and employ the senses, will be found highly ad- 
vantageous. Sudden pleasure, from strong expressions 
of aff"ection, or eloquent praise, whenever the child 
speaks truth, will operate powerfully in breaking his 
habits of equivocation. We do not advise parents to 
try sudden pain with children at this early age, neither 
do we advise bodily correction, or lasting penitences^ 
meant to excite shame, because these depress and en- 
feeble the mind, and a propensity to falsehood ultimately 
arises from weakness and timidity. Strengthen the 
body and mind by all means ; try to give the pupils com- 
mand over themselves, upon occasions where tiiey have 
no opportunities of deceiving: the same command of 
mind and courage, proceeding from the consciousness 
of strength and fortitude, may, when once acquired, be 
exerted in any manner we direct. A boy who tells a 
falsehood to avoid some trifling pain or to procure some 
trifling gratification, would perhaps dare to speak the 
truth, if he were certain that he could bear the pain or 
do without the gratification. Without talking to him 
about truth or falsehood, we should begin by exercising 
him in the art of bearing and forbearing. The slightest 

* Rousseau and Williams. 
H 



170 PRACTICAL EIXUCATION. 

trials are best for beginners, such as their fortitude can 
bear ; for success is necessary to increase their courage. 

Madame de Genlis, in her Adela and Theodore, gives 
Theodore, when he is about seven years old, a box of 
lUgarphims to take care of, to teach him to command 
lis passions. Theodore produces the untouched treas- 
ire to his mother, from time to time, with great self- 
;omplacency. We think this a good practical lesson. 
)Ome years ago the experiment was tried, with com^ 
plete success, upon a little boy between five and six 
years old. This boy kept raisins and almonds in a little 
box in his pocket, day after day, without ever thinking 
of touching them. His only difficulty was, to remember 
at the appointed time, at the week's end, to produce 
them. The raisins were regularly counted from time 
to time, and were, when found to be right, sometimes 
given to the child, but not always. When, for several 
weeks, the boy had faithfully executed his trust, the 
time was extended for which he was to keep the raisins, 
and everybody in the family expressed that they were 
now certain, before they counted the raisins, that they 
should find the number exact. This confidence, which 
was not pretended confidence, pleased the child, but the 
rest he considered as a matter of course. We think 
such little trials as these might be made with children 
of five or six years old, to give them habits of exact- 
ness. The boy we have just mentioned has grown up 
with a more unblemished reputation for truth than any 
child with whom we were ever acquainted. This is the 
same boy who broke the looking-glass. 

When a patient, far advanced in his childhood, is yet 
to be cured of a propensity to deceive, the business 
becomes formidable. It is dangerous to set our vigi- 
lance in direct opposition to his cunning, and it is yet 
more dangerous to trust and give him opportunities of 
fresh deceit. If the pupil's temper is timid, fear has 
probably been his chief inducement to dissimulation. 
If his temper is sanguine, hope and success, and per- 
haps the pleasure of inventing schemes, or of outwit- 
ting his superiors, have been his motives. In one case 
we should prove to the patient that he has nothing to 
fear from speaking the truth to us ; in the other case 
we should demonstrate to him that he has nothing to 
hope from telling us falsehoods. Those who are 
pleased with the ingenuity of cunning, should have op- 



TRUTH. 171 

portunities of showing tlieir ingenuity in honourable 
employments ; and the highest praise should be given to 
their successful abilities, whenever they are thus ex- 
erted. They will compare their feelings when they are 
the objects of esteem and of contempt, and they will 
be led permanently to pursue v/hat most tends to their 
happiness. We should never deprive them of the hope 
of establishing a character for integrity ; on the con- 
trary, we should explain distinctly to them, that this is 
absolutely in their own power. Examples from real 
life will strike the mind of a young person just entering 
into the world, much more than any fictitious characters 
or moral stories ; and strong indignation, expressed in- 
cidentally, will have more effect than any lectures pre- 
pared for the purpose. We do not mean that any arti- 
fice should be used to make our lessons impressive ; 
but there is no artifice in seizing opportunities, which 
must occur in real hfe, to exemplify the advantage of a 
good character. The opinions which young people 
hear expressed of actions in which they have no share, 
and of characters with whom they are not connected, 
make a great impression upon them. The horror which 
is shown to falsehood, the shame which overwhelms 
the culprit, they have then leisure to contemplate ; they 
see the effects of the storm at a distance ; they dread 
to be exposed to its violence, and they will prepare for 
their own security. When any such strong impression 
has been made upon the mind, we should seize that 
moment to connect new principles with new habits of 
action : we should try the pupil in some situation in 
which he has never been tried before, and where he 
consequently may feel hope of obtaining reputation, if 
he deserve it, by integrity. All reproaches upon his 
former conduct should now be forborne, and he should 
be allowed to feel, in full security, the pleasures and 
the honours of his new character. 

We cannot better conclude a chapter upon Truth, 
than by honestly referring the reader to a charming 
piece of eloquence, with which Mr. Godwin concludes 
his essay upon Deception and Frankness.* We are 
sensible how much we shall lose by the comparison: 
we had written this chapter before we saw his essay. 

* See The Enquirer, p. 101. 
H 2 



172 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

ON REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 

To avoid, in education, all unnecessary severity and 
all dangerous indulgence, we must form just ideas of 
the nature and use of rewards and punishments. Let 
us begin with considering the nature of punishment, 
since it is best to get the most disagreeable part of our 
business done the first. 

Several benevolent and enlightened authors* have 
endeavoured to explain the use of penal laws, and to 
correct the ideas which formerly prevailed concerning 
public justice. Punishment is no longer considered, 
except by the ignorant and sanguinary, as vengeance 
from the injured, or expiation from the guilty. We 
now distinctly understand, that the greatest possible 
happiness of the whole society must be the ultimate 
object of all just legislation; that the partial evil of pun- 
ishment is consequently to be tolerated by the wise and 
humane legislator, only so far as it is proved to be ne- 
cessary for the general good. When a crime has been 
committed, it cannot be undone by all the art, or all the 
power of man ; by vengeance the most sanguinary, or 
remorse the most painful. 

The past is irrevocable ; all that remains is to pro- 
vide for the future. It would be absurd, after an offence 
has already been committed, to increase the sum of 
misery in the world by inflicting pain upon the offender, 
unless that pain were afterward to be productive of 
happiness to society, either by preventing the criminal 
from repeating his offence, or by deterring others from 
similar enormities. With this double view of restrain- 
ing individuals, by the recollection of past sufferings, 
from future crimes, and of teaching others, by public 
examples, to expect and to fear certain evils, as the 
necessary consequences of certain actions hurtful to 
society, all wise laws are framed, and all just punish- 
ments are inflicted. It is only by the conviction that 

* Beccaria, Voltaire, Blackstone, &c. *■ 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 173 

certain punishments are essential to the general security 
and happiness, that a person of humanity can, or ought 
to fortify his mind against the natural feelings of com- 
passion. These feelings are the most painful, and the 
most difficult to resist, when, as it sometimes unavoid- 
ably happens, pubhc justice requires the total sacrifice 
of the happiness, liberty, or perhaps the life, of a fellow- 
creature, whose ignorance precluded him from virtue, 
and whose neglected or depraved education prepared 
him, by inevitable degrees, for vice and all its miseries. 
How exquisitely painful must be the feelings of a 
humane judge, in pronouncing sentence upon such a 
devoted being! But the law permits of no refined meta- 
physical disquisitions. It would be vain to plead the 
necessitarian's doctrine of an unavoidable connexion 
between the past and the future, in all human actions ; 
the same necessity compels the punishment that com- 
pels the crime ; nor could, nor ought, the most eloquent 
advocate, in a court of justice, to obtain a criminal's 
acquittal by entering into a minute history of the errors 
of his education. 

It is the business of education to prevent crimes, and to 
prevent all those habitual propensities which necessarily 
lead to their commission. The legislator can consider 
only the large interests of society ; the preceptor's view 
is fixed upon the individual interests of his pupil. Fortu- 
nately, both must ultimately agree. To secure for his 
pupil the greatest possible quantity of happiness, taking 
in the whole of life, must be the wish of the preceptor ; 
this includes every thing. We immediately perceive 
the connexion between that happiness, and obedience 
to all the laws on which the prosperity of society de- 
pends. We yet further perceive, that the probability 
of our pupil's yielding not only an implicit, but an ha- 
bitual, rational, voluntary, happy obedience, to such 
laws, must arise from the connexion which he believes 
and feels to exist between his social duties and his 
social happiness. How to induce this important belief 
is the question. 

It is obvious, that we cannot explain to the compre- 
hension of a child of three or four years old, all the 
truths of morality ; nor can we demonstrate to him the 
justice of punishments, by showing him that we give 
present pain to ensure future advantage. But, though 
we cannot demonstrate to the child that we are just, we 



174 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

may satisfy ourselves upon this subject, and we may 
conduct ourselves, during his nonage of understanding, 
with the scrupulous integrity of a guardian. Before we 
can govern by reason, we can, by associating pain or 
pleasure with certain actions, give habits ; and these 
habits will be either beneficial or hurtful to the pupil: 
we must, if they be hurtful habits, conquer them by 
fresh punishments ; and thus we make the helpless child 
suffer for our negligence and mistakes. Formerly in 
Scotland there existed a law, which obliged every far- 
rier who, through ignorance or drunkenness, pricked a 
horse's foot in shoeing him, to deposite the price of the 
horse until he was sound, to furnish the owner with an- 
other, and, in case the horse could not be cured, the far- 
rier was doomed to indemnify the injured owner. At the 
same rate of punishment, what indemnification should 
be demanded from a careless or ignorant preceptor 1 

When a young child puts his Unger too near the fire, 
he burns himself; the pain immediately follows the 
action ; they are associated together in the child's 
memory ; if he repeat the experiment often, and con- 
stantly with the same result, the association will be so 
strongly formed, that the child will ever afterward ex- 
pect these two things to happen together: whenever 
he puts his finger into fire, he will expect to feel 
pain ; he will learn yet further, as these things regularly 
follow one another, to think one the cause, and the 
other the effect. He may not have words to express 
these ideas ; nor can we explain how the belief that 
events which have happened together will again happen 
together, is by experience induced in the mind. This is 
a fact, which no metaphysicians pretend to dispute ; 
but it has not yet, that we know of, been accounted for 
by any. It would be rash to assert, that it will not in 
future be explained ; but at present we are totally in the 
dark upon the subject. It is sufficient for our purpose to 
observe, that this association of facts, or of ideas, affects 
the actions of all rational beings, and of many animals 
which are called irrational. Would you teach a dog or a 
horse to obey you ; do you not associate pleasure or 
pain with the things you wish that it should practise 
or avoid 1 The impatient and ignorant give infinitely 
more pain than is necessary to the animals they educate. 
If the pain which we would associate with any action, 
do not immediately follow it, the child does not under- 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 175 

stand us ; if several events happen nearly at the same 
time, it is impossible that a child can at first distinguish 
which are causes and which are effects. Suppose that 
a mother would teach her little son, that he must not put 
his dirty shoes upon her clean sofa : if she frowns upon 
him, or speaks to him in an angry tone, at the instant that 
he sets his foot and shoe upon the sofa, he desists ; but 
he has only learned, that putting a foot upon the sofa, 
and his mother's frown, follow each other ; his mother's 
frown, from former associations, gives him perhaps 
some pain, or the expectation of some pain, and con- 
sequently he avoids repeating the action which imme- 
diately preceded the frown. If, a short time after- 
ward, the little boy, forgetting the frown, accidentally 
gets upon the sofa tcit/wut his shoes, no evil follows; 
but it is not probable that he can, by this single experi- 
ment, discover that his shoes have made all the differ- 
ence in the two cases. Children are frequently so much 
puzzled by their confused experience of impunity and 
punishment, that they are quite at a loss how to conduct 
themselves. Whenever our punishments are not made 
intelligible, they are cruel ; they give pain, without pro- 
ducing any future advantage. To make punishment in- 
telligible to children, it must be not only immediately^ 
but repeatedly and uniformly, associated with the actions 
which we wish them to avoid. 

When children begin to reason, punishment affects 
them in a different manner from what it did while they 
were governed, like irrational animals, merely by the 
direct associations of pleasure and pain. They distin- 
guish, in many instances, between coincidence and 
causation ; ihey discover, that the will of others is the 
immediate cause, frequently, of the pain they suffer; 
they learn by experience that the loiJl is not an un- 
changeable cause, that it is influenced by circumstances, 
by passions, by persuasion, by caprice. It must be, 
however, by slow degrees, that they acquire any ideas 
of justice. They cannot know our views relative to 
their future happiness ; their first ideas of the justice 
of the punishments we inflict, cannot, therefore, be ac- 
curate. They regulate these first judgments by the 
simple idea, that our punishments ought to be exactly 
the same always in the same circumstances ; when they 
understand words, they learn to expect that our words 
and actions should precisely agree ; that we should keep 



176 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

our promises, and fuljil our threats. They next learn, 
that as they are punished for voluntary faults, they can- 
not justly be punished until it has been distinctly ex- 
plained to them what is wrong or ford id den^ and what is 
right or permitted. The words right or wrong, and per- 
mitted or forbidden, are synonymous at first in the ap- 
prehensions of children ; and obedience and disobedience 
are their only ideas of virtue and vice. Whatever we 
command to be done, or, rather, whatever we associate 
with pleasure, they imagine to be right ; whatever we 
prohibit, provided we have uniformly associated it with 
pain, they believe to be wrong. This implicit submis- 
sion to our authority, and these confined ideas of right 
and wrong, are convenient, or apparently convenient, 
to indolent or tyrannical governors ; and they some- 
times endeavour to prolong the reign of ignorance, with 
the hope of establishing in the mind an opinion of their 
own infallibility. But this is a dangerous, as well as an 
unjust system. By comparison with the conduct and 
opinions of others, children learn to judge of their 
parents and preceptors ; by reading and by conversa- 
tion, they acquire more enlarged notions of right and 
wrong; and their obedience, unless it then arise from 
the conviction of their understandings, depends but on 
a very precarious foundation. The mere association 
of pleasure and pain, in the form of reward and punish- 
ment, with any given action, v/ill not govern them ; 
they will now examine whether there is any moral of 
physical necessary connexion between the action and 
punishment ; nor will they beheve the punishment they 
suffer to be a consequence of the action they have com- 
mitted, but rather a consequence of their being obliged 
to submit to the will of those who are stronger or more 
powerful than they are themselves. Unjust punish- 
ments do not effect their intended purpose, because the 
pain is not associated with the action which we would 
prohibit ; but, on the contrary, it is associated with the 
idea of our tyranny ; it consequently excites the senti- 
ment of hatred towards us, instead of aversion to the 
forbidden action. When once, by reasoning, children 
acquire even a vague idea that those who educate them 
are unjust, it is in vain either to punish or reward them ; 
if they submit, or if they rebel, their education is equally 
spoiled ; in the one case they become cowardly, in the 
other headstrong. To avoid these evils, there i§ but 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 177 

one method ; we must early secure reason for our friend, 
else she will become our unconquerable enemy. As 
soon as children are able, in any instance, to understand 
the meaning and nature of punishment, it should, in that 
instance, be explained to them. Just punishment is 
pain, inflicted with the reasonable hope of preventing 
greater pain in future. In a family where there are 
several children educated together, or in public schools, 
punishments may be inflicted with justice for the sake 
of example, but slill the reformation and future good of 
the sufferer is always a principal object ; and of this he 
should be made sensible. If our practice upon all oc- 
casions correspond with our theory, and if children 
really perceive that we do not punish them to gratify 
our own spleen or passion, we shall not become, even 
when we give them pain, objects of their hatred. The 
pain will not be associated with us, but, as it ought to 
be, with the fault which was the real cause of it. As 
much as possible, we should let children feel the natural 
consequences of their own conduct. The natural con- 
sequence of speaking truth is the being believed ; the 
natural consequence of falsehood is the loss of trust 
and confidence ; the natural consequence of all the use- 
ful virtues is esteem; of all the amiable virtues, love; 
of each of the prudential virtues, some peculiar advantage 
to their possessor. But plumpudding is not the appro- 
priate reward of truth, nor is the loss of it the natural 
or necessary consequence of falsehood. Prudence is 
not to be rewarded with the aff'ection due to humanity, 
nor is humanity to be recompensed with the esteem 
claimed by prudence. Let each good and bad quality 
have its proper share of praise and blame, and let the 
consequences of each follow as constantly as possible. 
That young people may form a steady judgment of the 
danger of any vice, they must uniformly perceive that 
certain painful consequences result from its practice. 
It is in vain that we inflict punishments, unless all the 
precepts and all the examples which they see confirm 
them in the same belief. 

In the unfortunate son of Peter the Great, we have a 
striking instance of the eflfects of a disagreement be- 
tween precept and example,* which, in a less elevated 
situation, might have escaped our notice. It seems as 

* See Oox's Travels, vol. ii. p. 139. 
H3 



178 PRACTICAL EDUCATION". 

if the different parts and stages of his education had 
been purposely contrived to counteract each other. 
Till he was eleven years old, he was committed to the 
care of women and of ignorant bigoted priests, who 
were continually inveighing against his father for the 
abolition of certain barbarous customs. Then came 
Baron Huysen for his governor, a sensible man, who 
had just begun to make something of his pupil, when 
Prince Menzikof insisted upon having the sole manage- 
ment of the unfortunate Alexey. Prince Menzikof 
abandoned him to the company of the lowest wretches, 
who encouraged him in continual ebriety, and in a taste 
for every thing mean and profligate. At length came 
Euphrosyne, his Finlandish mistress, who, upon his trial 
for rebellion, deposed to every angry expression which, 
in his most unguarded moments, the wretched son had 
uttered against the tyrannical father. Amid such scenes 
of contradictory experience, can we be surprised that 
Alexey Petrovitch became feeble, ignorant, and profli- 
gate ; that he rebelled against the father whom he had 
early been taught to fear and hate ; that he listened to 
the pernicious counsels of the companions who had, by 
pretended sympathy and flattery, obtained that place 
in his confidence which no parental kindness had ever 
secured 1 Those historians who are zealous for the 
glory of Peter the Great, have eagerly refuted, as a most 
atrocious calumny, the report of his having had any 
part in the mysterious death of his son. But how will 
they apologize for the czar's neglect of that son's edu- 
cation, from which all the misfortimes of his life arose? 
But all this is past for ever ; the only advantage we 
can gain from recalhng these circumstances, is a con- 
firmation of this important principle in education ; that, 
when precept and example counteract each other, there 
is no hope of success. Nor can the utmost severity 
effect any useful purpose, while the daily experience of 
the pupil contradicts his preceptors lessons. In fact, 
severity is seldom necessary in a well-conducted edu- 
cation. The smallest possible degree of pain, which 
can, in any case, produce the required eflfect, is indis- 
putably the just measure of the punishment which ought 
to be inflicted in any given case. This simple axiom 
will lead us to a number of truths, which immediately 
depend upon or result from it. We must attend to 
every circumstance which can diminish the quantity 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 179 

of pain without lessening the efficacy of punishment. 
Now it has been found from experience, that there are 
several circumstances which operate uniformly to this 
purpose. We formerly observed, that the effect of pun- 
ishment upon the minds of children, before they reason, 
depends much upon its immediately succeeding the fault, 
and also upon its being certainly repeated whenever the 
same fault is committed. After children acquire the 
power of reasoning, from a variety of new motives, 
these laws with respect to punishment derive additional 
force. A trifling degree of pain will answer the pur- 
pose, if it be made inevitable ; while the fear of an 
enormous proportion of uncertain punishment will not 
be found sufficient to govern the imagination. The con- 
templation of a distant punishment, however severe, 
does not affect the imagination with much texfor, be- 
cause there is still a secret hope of escape in the mind. 
Hence it is found from experience, that the most san- 
guinary penal laws have always been ineffectual to re- 
strain from crimes.* Even if detection be inevitable, 
and consequent punishment equally inevitable, if punish- 
ment be not inflicted as soon as the criminal is con- 
victed, it has been found that it has not, either as a pre- 
ventive or a public example, the same power upon 
the human mind. Not only should the punishment be 
immediate after conviction, but detection should follow 
the offence as speedily as possible. Without entering 
at large into the intricate arguments concerning identity 
and consciousness, we may observe, that the conscious- 
ness of having committed the offence for which he suf- 
fers, ought, at the time of suffering, to be strong in the 
offender's mind. Though proofs of his identity may 
have been legally established in a court of justice ; and 
though, as far as it relates to public justice, it matters 
not whether the offence for which he is punished was 
committed yesterday or a year ago ; yet, as to the 
effect which the punishment produces on the culprit's 
own mind, there must be a material difference. 

" I desire you to judge of me, not by what I was, but 
by what I am," said a philosopher, when he was re- 
proached for some of his past transgressions. If the 
interval between an offence and its punishment be long, 
it^is possible that, during this interval, a complete change 

* See Feccaria, Blackstone, Colquhoun, 



180 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

may be made in the views and habits of the offender;: 
such a change as shall absolutely preclude all probabil- 
ity of his repeating his offence. His punishment must 
then be purely for the sake of example to others. He 
suffers pain at the time, perhaps, when he is in the best 
social dispositions possible ; and thus we punish the 
present good man for the faults of the former of- 
fender. We readily excuse the violence which a man 
in a passion may have committed, when, upon his 
return to his sober senses, he expresses contrition and 
surprise at his own excesses ; he assures us, and we 
believe him, that he is now a perfectly different person. 
If we do not feel any material ill consequences from his 
late anger, we are willing, and even desirous, that the 
passionate man should not, in his sober state, be pun- 
ished for his madness; all that we can desire is, to have 
some sfcurity against his falling into any fresh fit of 
anger. Could his habits of temper be instantly changed, 
and could we have a moral certainty that his phrensy 
would never more do us any injury, would it not bft 
malevolent and unjust to punish him for his old insanity 1 
If we think and act upon these principles with respect 
to men, how much more indulgent should we be to chil- 
dren I Indulgence is perhaps an improper word — but 
in other words, how careful should we be never to chain 
children to their dead faults !* Children, during their 
education, must be in a continual state of progression ; 
they are not the same to-day that they were yesterday; 
they have little reflection ; their consciousness of the 
present occupies them ; and it would be extremely dif- 
ficult, from day to day, or from hour to hour, to identify 
their minds. Far from wishing that they should dis- 
tinctly remember all their past thoughts, and that they 
should value themselves upon their continuing the same, 
we must frequently desire that they should forget their 
former errors, and absolutely change their manner of 
thinking. They should feel no interest in adhering to 
former bad habits or false opinions ; therefore, their 
pride should not be roused to defend these by our ma- 
king them a part of their standing character. The char- 
acter of children is io he formed — we should never speak 
of it as positively fixed. Man has been defined to be a 
bundle of habits ; till the bundle is made up, we vn^y 

*^ Mezentius. — Virgil, 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 181 

continually increase or diminish it. Children who are 
zealous in defence of their own perfections, are of all 
others most likely to become stationary in their intel- 
lectual progress, and disingenuous in their temper. It 
would be in vain to repeat to them this sensible and 
elegant observation, — " To confess that you have been 
in the wrong, is only saying, in other words, that you 
are wiser to-day than you were yesterday." This re- 
mark will rather pique than comfort the pride of those 
who are anxious to prove that they have been equally 
wise and immaculate in every day of their existence. 

It may be said that children cajinot too early be made 
sensible of the value of reputation ; and they must be 
taught to connect the ideas of their past and present 
selves, otherwise they cannot perceive, for instance, why 
confidence should be placed in them in proportion to 
their past integrity ; or why falsehood should lead to dis- 
trust. The force of this argument must be admitted ; 
yet still we must consider the age and strength of mind 
in children in applying it to practice. Truth is not in- 
stinctive in the mind, and the ideas of integrity and of 
the advantages of reputation must be very cautiously 
introduced, lest, by giving children too perfect a theory 
of morality, before tliey have sufficient strength of mind 
to adhere to it in practice, we may make them hypo- 
crites, or else give them a fatal distrust of themselves, 
founded upon too early an experience of their owa 
weakness, and too great sensibility to shame. 

Shame, when it once becomes familiar to the mind, 
loses its effect ; it should not, therefore, be used as a 
common punishment for slight faults. Nor should we 
trust very early in education to the delicate, secret in- 
fluence of conscience ; but we should take every pre- 
caution to prevent the necessity of having recourse to 
the punishment of disgrace ; and we must, if we mean 
to preserve the power of conscience, take care that it 
be never disregarded with impunity. We must avoid 
opposing it to strong temptation ; nor should we ever 
try the integrity of children, except in situations where 
we can be perfectly certain of the result of the experi- 
ment. We must neither run the risk of injuring them 
by unjust suspicions nor unmerited confidence. By 
prudent arrangements, and by unremitted daily attention, 
we should absolutely prevent the possibility of deceit. 
By giving a few commands or prohibitions, we may 



182 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

avoid the danger of either secret or open disobedience/ 
By diminishing temptations to do wrong, we act more 
humanely than by multiplying restraints and punish- 
ments. 

It has been found that no restraints or punishments 
have proved adequate to ensure obedience to laws, 
whenever strong temptations, and many probabilities 
of evasion, combine in opposition to conscience or fear. 
The terrors of the law have been for years ineffectually 
directed against a race of beings called smugglers ; yet 
smuggling is still an extensive, lucrative, and not univer- 
sally discreditable profession. Let any person look into 
the history of the excise laws in England,* and he will be 
astonished at the accumulation of penal statutes, which 
the active, but ineffectual ingenuity of prohibitory legis- 
lators has devised in the course of about thirty years. 
Open wi'-; w^as declared against all illegal distillers ; yet 
the temptation to illegal distilling continually increased, 
in proportion to the heavy duties laid upon the fair 
trader. It came at length to a trial of skill between 
revenue officers and distillers, which could cheat, or 
which could detect, the fastest. The distiller had the 
strongest interest in the business, and he usually came 
off victorious. Coursing officers and loatching officers 
(once ten loalching officers were set upon one distiller), 
and surveyors and supervisors, multiplied without end : 
the land in their fiscal maps was portioned out into divis- 
ions and districts, and each ganger had the charge of all 
the distillers in his division : the watching officer went 
first, and the coursing officer went after him, and after 
him the supervisor ; and they had table-books, and gau^ 
ging-rods, and dockets, and permits ; permits for sellers, 
and permits for buyers, and permits for foreign spirits, 
printed in red ink, and permits for British spirits, in black 
ink; and they went about night and day with their hy- 
drometers, to ascertain the strength of spirits ; and with 
their gauging-rods, to measure ivnsh. But the perti- 
nacious distiller was still flourishing; permits were 
forged ; concealed pipes were fabricated ; and the pro- 
portion between the wash and spirits was seldom legal. 
The commissioners complained, and the legislators 
went to work again. Under a penalty of 100/., distillers 

* See An Inquiry into the Principles of Taxation, p. 37, published 
in 1790. 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 183 

were ordered to paint the words distiller., dealer in spir- 
its, over their doors ; and it was further enacted that all 
the distillers should furnish, at their own expense, any- 
kind of locks and fastenings which the revenue officers 
should require for locking up the doors of their own 
furnaces, the heads of their own stills, pumps, pipes, &c. 
First, suspicions fell upon the public distiller for ex- 
portation ; then his utensils were locked up ; afterward 
the private distiller was suspected, and he was locked 
up ; then they set him and his furnaces at liberty, and 
went back in a passion to the public distiller. The 
legislature condescended to interfere, and with a new 
lock and key, precisely described in an act of Parliament, 
it was hoped all would be made secure. Any person, 
being a distiller, who should lock up his furnace or pipes 
with a key constructed differently from that which the 
act described, or any person making such illegal key for 
said distiller, was subject to the forfeiture of 100/. The 
padlock was never fixed upon the mind, and even the 
lock and key, prescribed by act of Parliament, were 
found inefficacious. Any common blacksmith, with a 
picklock in his possession, laughed at the combined skill 
of the two houses of Parliament. 

This digression from the rewards and punishments 
of children to the distillery laws, may, it is hoped, be 
pardoned, if the useful moral can be drawn from it, that, 
where there are great temptations to fraud, and con- 
tinual opportunities of evasion, no laws, however in- 
genious, no punishments, however exorbitant, can avail. 
The history of coiners, venders, and utterers of his 
majesty's coin, as lately detailed to us by respectable 
authority,* may afford further illustration of this prin- 
ciple. 

There is no imminent danger of children becoming 
either coiners or fraudulent distillers ; but an ingenious 
preceptor will not be much puzzled in applying the re- 
marks that have been made to the subject of education. 
For the anticlimax, in descending from the legislation 
of men to the government of children, no apology is at- 
tempted. 

The fewer the laws we make for children, the better. 
Whatever they may be, they should be distinctly ex- 
pressed ; the letter and spirit should both agree, and the 

* Colquhoun. On the Police of the Metropolis, 



184 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

words should bear but one signification, clear to all the 
parties concerned. They should never be subject to 
the ex post facto interpretation of an angry preceptor 
or a cunning pupil ; no loose general terms should per- 
mit tyranny or encourage quibbling. There is said* to 
be a Chinese law, which decrees that whoever does not 
show proper respect to the sovereign, is to be punished 
with death. What is meant by the words proper respect^ 
is not defined. Two persons made a mistake in some 
account of a significant affair, in one of their court ga- 
zettes. It was declared, that to lie in a court gazette is 
to be wanting in proper respect to the court. Both the 
careless scribes wexe put to death. One of the princes 
of the blood inadvertently put some mark upon a memo- 
rial which had been signed by the Emperor Bogdo 
Chan. This was construed to be a want of proper re- 
spect to Bogdo Chan the emperor, and a horrible perse- 
cution hence arose against the scrawling prince and his 
whole family. May no schoolmasters, ushers, or others, 
ever (even as far as they are able) imitate Bogdo Chan, 
and may they always define to their subjects what they 
mean by proper respect ! 

There is a sort of mistaken mercy sometimes shown 
to children, which is, in reality, the greatest cruelty. 
People who are too angry to refrain from threats, are 
often too indolent, or too compassionate, to put their 
threats in execution. Between their words and actions 
there is hence a manifest contradiction ; their pupils 
learn, from experience, either totally to disregard these 
threats, or else to calculate, from the various degrees 
of anger which appear in the threatener's countenance, 
what real probability there is of his being as good or as 
bad as his word. Far from perceiving that punishment, 
in this case, is pain given ivith the reasonable hope of 
making him wiser or happier, the pupil is convinced, that 
his master punishes him only to gratify the passion of 
anger, to which he is unfortunately subject. Even sup- 
posing that threateners are exact in fulfilling their 
threats, and that they are not passionate, but simply 
wish to avoid giving pain, they endeavour to excite the 
fears of their pupils as the means of governing them. 

* See the grand instructions to the commissioners appointed to. 
frame a new code of laws for the Russian empire, p. 183, said to have- 
beeu drawn up by the late Lord Mansfield. 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. IBS' 

with the least possible pain. But with fear they excite 
all the passions and habits which are connected with 
that mean principle of action, and they extinguish that 
vigorous spirit, that independent energy of soul, which 
is essential to all the active and manly virtues. Young 
people who find that their daily pleasures depend not 
so much upon their own exertions as upon the humour 
and caprice of others, become absolute courtiers ; they 
practise all the arts of persuasion, and all the crouching 
hypocrisy which can deprecate wrath, or propitiate fa- 
vour. Their notions of right and wrong cannot be en- 
larged ; their recollection of tlie rewards and punish- 
ments of their childhood is always connected with the 
ideas of tyranny and slavery ; and when they break 
their own chains, they are impatient to impose similar 
bonds upon their inferiors. 

An argument has been used to prove, that in some 
cases anger is part of the justice of punishment, because 
" mere reproof, without sufficient marks of displeasure 
and emotion, affects a child very little, and is soon for- 
gotten."* It cannot be doubted, that the expression of 
indignation is a just consequence of certain faults ; and 
the general indignation with which these are spoken of 
before young people, must make a strong and useful 
impression upon their minds. They reflect upon the 
actions of others ; they see the effects which these 
produce upon the human mind ; they put themselves in 
the situation alternately of the person who expresses 
indignation, and of him who suffers shame ; they meas- 
ure the fault and its consequences ; and they resolve to 
conduct themselves so as to avoid that just indignation 
of which they dread to be the object. These are the 
general conclusions which children draw when they are 
impartial spectators ; but where they are themselves con- 
cerned, their feelings and their reasonings are very dif- 
ferent. If they have done any thing which they know 
to be wrong, they expect, and are sensible that they de- 
serve, displeasure and indignation ; but if any precise 
penalty is annexed to the fault, the person who is to 
inflict it appears to them in the character of a judge, who 
is bound to repress his own feelings, and coolly to execute 
justice. If the judge both reproaches and punishes, he 

* See Dr. Priestley's Miscellaneous Observations relating to Edu- 
cation, sect, vii, of correction, p. 67. 



186 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

doubles the punishment. Whenever indignation is ex- 
pressed, no vuli^ar trivial penalties should accompany it ; 
the pupil should feel that it is indignation against his fault, 
and not against himself; and that it is not excited in his 
preceptor's mind by any petty personal considerations. 
A child distinguishes between anger and indignation 
very exactly; the one commands his respect, the other 
raises his contempt as soon as his fears subside. Dr. 
Priestley seems to think that " it is not possible to ex- 
press displeasure with -sufficient force, especially to a 
child, when a man is perfectly' cool." May we not 
reply to this, that it is scarcely possible to express dis- 
pleasure with sufficient propriety, especially to a child, 
when a man is in a passion '\ The propriety is, in this 
case, of at least as much consequence as the force of 
the reprimand. The effect which the preceptor's dis- 
pleasure will produce, must be in some proportion to 
the esteem which the pupil feels for him. If he cannot 
command his irascible passions, his pupil cannot con- 
tinue to esteem him ; and there is an end of all that 
fear of his disapprobation, which was founded upon 
esteem, and which can never be founded upon a stronger 
or a better basis. We should further consider, that 
the opinions of all the by-standers, especially if they be 
any of them of the pupil's own age, have great influ- 
ence upon his mind. It is not to be expected that they 
should all sympathize equally with the angry preceptor ; 
and we know that whenever the indignation expressed 
against any fault appears, in the least, to pass the 
bound of exact justice, the sympathy of the spectators 
immediately revolts in favour of the culprit ; the fault 
is forgotten or excused, and all join in spontaneous 
compassion. In public schools, this happens so fre- 
quently, that the master's displeasure seldom affects the 
little community with any sorrow; combined together, 
they make each other amends for public punishments, 
by private pity or encouragement. In families which 
are not well regulated, that is to say, in which the in- 
terests of all the individuals do not coalesce, the same 
evils are to be dreaded. Neither indignation nor shame 
can affect children in such schools or such families ; 
the laws and manners, pubhc precept and private opin- 
ion, contradict each other. 

In a variety of instances in society, we may observe, 
that the best laws and the best principles are not suffi- 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 187 

cient to resist the combination of numbers. Never 
attempt to affix infamy to a number of people at once, 
says a philosophic legislator.* This advice showed that 
he perfectly understood the nature of the passion of 
shame. Numbers keep one another in countenance ; 
they form a society for themselves ; and sometimes by 
peculiar phrases, and an appropriate language, confound 
the established opinion of virtue and vice, and enjoy a 
species of self-complacency independent of public opin- 
ion, and often in direct opposition to their former con- 
science. Whenever any set of men want to get rid of 
the shame annexed to particular actions, they begin by 
changing the names and epithets which have been gen- 
erally used to express them, and which they know are 
associated with the feelings of shame : these feelings 
are not awakened by the new language, and by degrees 
they are forgotten, or they are supposed to have been 
merely prejudices and habits, which former methods of 
speaking taught people to reverence. Thus the most 
disgraceful combinations of men, who live by violating 
and evading the laws of society, have all a peculiar 
phraseology among themselves, by Which jocular ideas 
are associated with the most disreputable actions. 

Those who live by depredation on the river Thames, 
do not call themselves thieves, but lumpers and mudlarks. 
Coiners give regular mercantile names to the different 
branches of their trade, and to the various kinds of false 
money which they circulate : such as fiats, or figs, or 
fig-things. Unlicensed lottery-wheels are called little 
goes ; and the men who are sent about to public houses 
to entice poor people into illegal lottery-ensurances, are 
called Morocco-men: a set of villains, hired by these 
fraudulent lottery-keepers, to resist the civil power 
during the drawing of the lottery, call themselves 
bludgeon-men ; and in the language of robbers, a receiver 
of stolen goods is said to be stanch, when it is believed 
that he will go all lengths rather than betray the secrets 
of a gang of highwaymen. f 

Since words have such power in their turn over ideas, 
we must, in education, attend to the language of chil- 
dren as a means of judging of the state of their minds ; 
and whenever we find that in their conversation with 



* See Code of Russian Laws, 
t Colquhoun. 



188 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

one another they have any slang which turns moral 
ideas into ridicule, we may be certain that this must 
have arisen from some defect in their education. The 
power of shame must then be tried in some new shape, 
to break this false association of ideas. Shame in a 
new shape aflfects the mind with surprising force, in the 
same manner as danger in a new form alarms the courage 
of veterans. An extraordinary instance of this may be 
observed in the management of Gloucester jail : a blue 
and yellow jacket has been found to have a most power- 
ful effect upon men supposed to be dead to shame. The 
keeper of the prison told us, that the most unruly 
offenders could be kept in awe by the dread of a dress 
which exposed them to the ridicule of their companions, 
no new term having been yet invented to counteract the 
terrors of the yellow jacket. To prevent the mind 
from becoming insensible to shame, it must be very 
sparingly used ; and the hope and possibility of recover- 
ing esteem must always be kept alive. Those who are 
excluded from hope are necessarily excluded from vir- 
tue ; the loss of reputation, we see, is almost always 
followed by total depravity. The cruel prejudices 
which are harboured against particular classes of people, 
usually tend to make the individuals who are the best 
disposed among these sects, despair of obtaining esteem ; 
and, consequently, careless about deserving it. There 
can be nothing inherent in the knavish propensity of 
Jews ; but the prevailing opinion, that avarice, dishon- 
esty, and extortion, are the characteristics of a Jew, 
has probably induced many of the tribe to justify the 
antipathy which they could not conquer. Children are 
frequently confirmed in faults, by the imprudent and 
cruel custom which some parents have of settling early 
in life, that such a thing is natural ; that such and such 
dispositions are not to be cured ; that cunning, per- 
haps, is the characteristic of one child, and caprice of 
another. This general odium oppresses and dispirits : 
such children think it is in vain to struggle against na- 
ture, especially as they do not clearly understand what 
is meant by nature. They submit to our imputations, 
without knowing how to refute them. On the contrary, 
if we treat them with more good sense and benevolencie, 
if we explain to them the nature of the human mind, 
and if we lay open to them the history of their own, 
they will assist us in endeavouring to cure their faults, 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 189 

and they will not be debilitated by indistinct, supersti- 
tious fears. At ten or eleven years old, children are 
capable of understanding some of the general principles 
of rational morality ; and these they can apply to their 
own conduct in many instances, which, however trivial 
they may appear, are not beneath our notice. 

June 16, 1796. S (nine years old) had lost his 

pencil ; his father said to him, " I wish to give you an- 
other pencil, but I am afraid I should do you harm if I 
did ; you would not take care of your things if you did 
not feel some inconvenience when you lose them." 
The boy's lips moved as if he were saying to himself, 
*' I understand this ; it is just." His father guessed that 
these were the thoughts that were passing in his mind, 
and asked whether he interpreted rightly the motion of 

the lips. " Yes," said S , " that was exactly what I 

was thinking." " Then," said his father, " I will give 
you a bit of my own pencil this instant : all I want is to 
make the necessary impression upon your mind ; that 
is all the use of punishment ; you know we do not want 
to torment you." 

As young people grow up, and perceive the conse- 
quences of their own actions, and the advantages of 
credit and character, they become extremely solicitous 
to preserve the good opinion of those whom they love 
and esteem. They are now capable of taking the future 
into their view, as well as the present ; and at this pe- 
riod of their education, the hand of authority should 
never be hastily used ; the voice of reason will never 
fail to make itself heard, especially if reason speak 
with the tone of affection. During the first years of 
childhood, it did not seem prudent to make any punish- 
ment lasting, because young children quickly forget 
their faults ; and having little experience, cannot feel 
how their past conduct is likely to affect their future 
happiness : but as soon as they have more enlarged 
experience, the nature of their punishments should alter; 
if we have any reason to esteem or love them less, our 
contempt and displeasure should not lightly be dissi- 
pated. Those who reflect, are more influenced by the 
idea of the duration than of the intensity of any mental 
pain. In those calculations which are constantly made 
before we determine upon action or forbearance, some 
tempers estimate any evil which is likely to be but of 
short duration, infinitely below its real importance. 



190 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Young men of sanguine and courageous dispositions, 
hence frequently act imprudently ; the consequences 
of their temerity will, they think, soon be over, and 
they feel that they are able to support evil for a short 
time, however great it may be. Anger, they know, is 
a short-lived passion, and they do not scruple running 
the hazard of exciting anger in the hearts of those they 
love the best in the world. The experience of lasting, 
sober disapprobation, is intolerably irksome to them ; 
any inconvenience which continues for a length of time, 
wearies them excessively. After they have endured, 
as the consequence of any actions, this species of pun- 
ishment, they will long remember their sufferings, and 
will carefully avoid incurring in future similar penalties. 
Sudden and transient pain appears to be most effectual 
with persons of an opposite temperament. 

Young people of a torpid, indolent temperament, are 
much under the dominion of habit ; if they happen to 
have contracted any disagreeable or bad habits, they 
have seldom sufficient energy to break them. The 
stimulus of sudden pain is necessary in this case. The 
pupil maybe perfectly convinced that such a habit ought 
to be broken, and may wish to break it most sincerely ; 
but may yet be incapable of the voluntary exertion re- 
quisite to obtain success. It would be dangerous to let 
the habit, however insignificant, continue victorious ; 
because the child would hence be discouraged from all 
future attempts to battle with himself. Either we should 
not attempt the conquest of the habit, or we should per- 
sist till we have vanquished. The confidence which 
this sense of success will give the pupil, will probably, 
in his own opinion, be thought well worth the price. 
Neither his reason nor his will was in fault ; all he 
wanted was strength to break the diminutive chains of 
habit ; chains which, it seems, have power to enfeeble 
their captives, exactly in proportion to the length of 
time they are worn. 

Everybody has probably found, from his own expe- 
rience, how difficult it is to alter little habits in man- 
ners, pronunciation, &c. Children are often teased 
with frequent admonitions about their habits of sitting, 
standing, walking, talking, eating, speaking, &c. Pa- 
rents are early aware of the importance of agreeable, 
graceful manners ; everybody who sees children can 
judge, or thinks that he can judge, of their manners j 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 191 

and from anxiety that children should appear to advan- 
tage in company, parents solicitously watch all their 
gestures, and correct all their attitudes according to that 
image of the " beau ideaV which happens to be most 
fashionable. The most convenient and natural attitudes 
are not always the most approved. The constraint 
which children suffer from their obedience, obliges them 
at length to rest their tortured muscles, and to throw 
themselves, for relief, into attitudes the very reverse of 
those which they have practised with so much pain. 
Hence they acquire opposite habits in their manners, 
and there is a continual struggle between these. They 
find it impossible to correct, instantaneously, the awk- 
ward tricks which they have acquired, and they learn 
ineffectually to attempt a conquest over themselves ; or 
else, which is most commonly the catastrophe, they 
learn to hear the exhortations and rebukes of all around 
them, without being stimulated to any degree of exer- 
tion.* The same voices which lose their power on 
these trifling occasions, lose, at the same time, much 
of their general influence. More poiver is wasted upon 
trifling defects in the manners of children, than can be 
imagined by any who have not particularly attended to 
this subject. If it be thought indispensably necessary 
to speak to children eternally about their manners, this 
irritating and disagreeable office should devolve upon 
somebody whose influence over the children we are 
not anxious to preserve undiminished. A little inge- 
nuity in contriving the dress, writing-desks, reading- 
desks, &c. of children, who are any way defective in 
their shape, might spare much of the anxiety which is 
felt by their parents, and much of the bodily and mental 
pain which they alternately endure themselves. For 
these patients, would it not be rather more safe to con- 
sult the philosophic physicianf than the dancing-mas- 
ter, who is not bound to understand either anatomy or 
metaphysics ? 

Every preventive which is discovered for any de- 
fect, either in manners, temper, or understanding, dimin- 
ishes the necessity for punishment. Punishments are 
the abrupt, brutal resource of ignorance, frequently^X to 

* See the judicious Locke's observations upon the subject of man- 
ners, section 67 of his valuable Treatise on Education. 
t See vol. ii. of Zoonomia. 
X We believe this is Williams's idea. 



192 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

cure the effects of former neglig^ence. With children 
who have been reasonably and affectionately educated, 
scarcely any punishments are requisite. This is not an 
assertion hazarded without experience; the happy ex- 
perience of several years, and of several children of 
different ages and tempers, justifies this assertion. As 
for corporeal punishments, they may be necessary where 
boys are to be drilled in a given time into scholars ; but 
the language of blows need seldom be used to reasona- 
ble creatures. The idea that it is disgraceful to be gov- 
erned by force, should be kept alive in the minds of 
children ; the dread of shame is a more powerful mo- 
tive than the fear of bodily pain. To prove the truth 
of this, we may recollect that few people have ever 
been known to destroy themselves, in order to escape 
from bodily pain ; but numbers, to avoid shame, have 
put an end to their existence. It has been a question, 
whether mankind are most governed by hope or by fear ; 
by rewards or by punishments'? This question, like 
many others which have occasioned tedious debates, 
turns chiefly upon words. Hope and fear are some- 
times used to denote mixed, and sometimes unmixed 
passions. Those who speak of them as unmixed pas- 
sions, cannot have accurately examined their own feel- 
ings.* The probability of good produces hope; the 
probability of evil excites fear ; and as this probability 
appears less or greater, more remote or nearer to us, 
the mind fluctuates between the opposite passions. 
When the probability increases on either side, so does 
the corresponding passion. Since these passions sel- 
dom exist in absolute separation from one another, it 
appears that we cannot philosophically speak of either 
as an independent motive : to the question, therefore, 
" Which governs mankind the most, hope or fear ?" we 
cannot give an implicit answer. 

When we would determine upon the probability of any 
good or evil, we are insensibly influenced, not only by 
the view of the circumstances before us, but also by our 
previous habits ; we judge not only by the general laws 
of human events, but also by our own individual expe- 
rience. If we have been usually successful, we are in- 
clined to hope ; have we been accustomed to misfor- 
tunes, we are hence disposed to fear. " Caesar and his 

* Hume's Dissertation on the Passions. 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 193 

fortune are on board," exclaimed the confident liero to 
the mariners. Hope excites the mind to exertion ; fear 
represses all activity. As a preventive from vice, 
you may employ fear ; to restrain the excesses of all 
the furious passions, it is useful and necessary : but 
would you rouse the energies of virtue, you must inspire 
and invigorate the soul with hope. Courage, generosity, 
industry, perseverance, all the magic of talents, all the 
powers of genius, all the virtues that appear spontane- 
ous in great minds, spring from hope. JBut how differ- 
ent is the hope of a great and of a little mind ; not only 
are the objects of this hope different, but the passion 
itself is raised and supported in a different manner. A. 
feeble person, if he presume to hope, hopes as super- 
stitiously as he fears ; he keeps his attention sedulously 
fixed upon all the probabilities in his favour ; he will not 
listen to any argument in opposition to his wishes ; he 
knows he is unreasonable, he persists in continuing so ; 
he does not connect any idea of exertion with hope ; 
his hope usuallj'^ rests upon the exertions of others, or 
upon some fortuitous circumstances. A man of a strong 
mind reasons before he hopes ; he takes in, at one quick, 
comprehensive glance, all that is to be seen, both for and 
against him ; he is, from experience, disposed to depend 
much upon his own exertions, if they can turn the bal- 
ance in his favour; he hopes, he acts, he succeeds. 
Poets, in all ages, have celebrated the charms of hope ; 
without her propitious influence, life, they tell us, would 
be worse than death ; without her smiles, nature would 
smile in vain ; without her promises, treacherous though 
they often prove, reality would have nothing to give 
worthy of our acceptance. We are not bound, how- 
ever, to understand literally, the rhetoric of poets. Hope 
is to them a beautiful and useful allegorical personage ; 
sometimes leaning upon an anchor ; sometimes " waving 
her golden hair ;" always young, smihng, enchanting, 
furnished with a rich assortment of epithets suited to 
the ode, the sonnet, the madrigal, with a traditionary 
number of images and allusions ; what more can a poet 
desire ] Men, except when they are poets, do not value 
hope as the first of terrestrial beings. The action and 
energies which hope produces, are to many more agree- 
able than the passion itself; that feverish state of sus- 
pense, which prevents settled thought or vigorous exer- 
tion, far from being agreeable, is highly painful to a well- 



194 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

regulated mind; the continual repetition of the same 
ideas and the same calculations, fatigues the mind, 
which, in reasoning, has been accustomed to arrive at 
some certain conclusion, or to advance, at least, a step 
at every effort. The exercise of the mind in changing 
the views of its object, which is supposed to be a great 
part of the pleasure of hope, is soon over to an active 
imagination, which quickly runs through all the possible 
changes ; or is this exercise, even while it lasts, so de- 
lightful to a man who has a variety of intellectual occu- 
pations, as it frequently appears to him who knows 
scarcely any other species of mental activity 1 The 
vacillating state of mind peculiar to hope and fear, is 
by no means favourable to industry; half our time is 
generally consumed in speculating upon the reward, 
instead of earning it, whenever the value of that reward 
is noi precisely ascerlainaUe. In all occupations where 
judgment or accurate observation is essential, if the re- 
ward of our labour is brought suddenly to excite our 
hope, there is an immediate interruption of all effectual 
labour; the thoughts take a new direction; the mind 
becomes tremulous, and nothing decisive can be done, 
till the emotions of hope and fear either subside or are 
vanquished. 

M. I'Abbe Chappe, who was sent by the king of 
France, at the desire of the French Academy, to Siberia, 
to observe the transit of Venus, gives us a striking pic- 
ture of the state of his own mind when the moment of 
this famous observation approached. In the descrip- 
tion of his own feelings, this traveller may be admitted 
as good authority. A few hours before the observation, 
a black cloud appeared in the sky ; the idea of returning 
to Paris, after such a long and perilous journey, without 
having seen the transit of Venus ; the idea of the dis- 
appointment to his king, to his country, to all the phi- 
losophers in Europe, threw him into a state of agita- 
tion " which must have been felt to be conceived." 
At length the black cloud vanished ; his hopes affected 
him almost as nmch as his fears had done ; he fixed his 
telescope, saw the planet ; his eye wandered over the 
immense space a thousand times in a minute ; his sec- 
retary stood on one side with his pen in his hand ; his 
assistant, with his eye fixed upon the watch, was sta- 
tioned on the other side. The moment of the total im- 
mersion arrived ; the agitated philosopher was seized 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 195 

with a universal shivering, and could scarcely command 
his thoughts sufficiently to secure the observation. 

The uncertainty of reward, and the consequent agita- 
tions of hope and fear, operate as unfavourably upon 
the moral as upon the intellectual character. The 
favour of princes is an uncertain reward. Courtiers are 
usually despicable and wretched beings : they live upon 
hope ; but their hope is not connected with exertion. 
Those who court popularity are not loss despicable or 
less wretched ; their reward is uncertani : what is more 
uncertain than the affection of the multitude ? The Pro- 
teus character of Wharton, so admirably drawn by 
Pope, is a striking picture of a man who has laboured 
through life with the vague hope of obtaining universal 
applause. 

Let us suppose a child to be educated by a variety of 
persons, all differing in their tastes and tempers, and in 
their notions of right and wa*ong ; all having the power 
to reward and punish their connnon pupil. What must 
this pupil become ] A mixture of incongruous charac- 
ters ; superstitious, enthusiastic, indolent, and perhaps 
profligate : superstitious, because his own contradictory 
experience would expose him to fear without reason ; 
enthusiastic, because he would, from the same cause, 
form absurd expectations ; indolent, because the willoi 
others has been the measure of his happiness, and his 
own exertions have never procured him any certain re- 
ward ; profligate, because, probably, from the confused 
variety of his moral lessons, he has at last concluded 
that right and wrong are but unmeaning words. Let us 
change the destiny of this child, by changing his educa- 
tion. Place him under the sole care of a person of an 
enlarged capacity and a steady mind ; who has formed 
just notions of right and wrong, and who, in the distri- 
bution of reward and punishment, of praise and blame, 
will be prompt, exact, invariable. His pupil will neither 
be credulous, rash, nor profligate ; and he certainly will 
not be indolent ; his habitual and his rational belief will 
in all circumstances agree with each other ; his hope 
will be the prelude to exertion, and his fear will restrain 
him only in situations where action is dangerous. 

Even among children, we must frequently have ob- 
served a prodigious difference in the quantity of hope 
and fear which is felt by those who have been well or 
ill-educated. An ill-educated child is in daily, hourly, 
1 2 



196 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

alternate agonies of hope and fear ; the present never 
occupies or interests him, but his soul is intent upon 
some future gratification, which never pays him by its 
full possession. As soon as he awakes in the morn- 
ing, he recollects some promised blessing; and, till the 
happy moment arrives, he is wretched in impatience : 
at breakfast he is to be blessed with some toy, that he is 
to have the moment breakfast is finished ; and when he 
finds the toy does not delight him, he is to be blessed 
with a sweet pudding at dinner, or with sitting up half 
an hour later at night than his usual bedtinje. Endeav- 
our to find some occupation that shall amuse hmi ; you 
will not easily succeed, for he will still anticipate what 
you are going to say or do. " What will come next?" 
" What shall we do after this V are, as Mr. Williams, . 
in his able lectures upon education, observes, the ques* 
tions incessantly asked by spoiled children. This spe- 
cies of idle, restless curiosity, does not lead to the 
acquisition of knowledge ; it prevents the possibility of 
instruction ; it is not the animation of a healthy mind; 
it is the debility of an over-stimulated temper. There 
is a very sensible letter in Mrs. Macauley's book upon 
education, on the impropriety of filling the imaginations 
of young people with prospects of future enjoyment : 
the foolish system of promising great rewards and fine 
presents, she clearly shows, creates habitual disorders 
in the minds of children. 

The happiness of life depends more upon a succes- 
sion of small enjoyments than upon great pleasures ; 
and those who become incapable of tasting the moder- 
ately agreeable sensations, cannot fill up the intervals 
of their existence between their great delights. The 
happiness of children peculiarly depends upon their 
enjoyment of lillle pleasures : of these they have a con- 
tinual variety ; they have perpetual occupation for their 
senses, in observing all the objects around them, and all 
their faculties may be exercised upon suitable subjects. 
The pleasure of this exercise is in itself sufficient : we 
need not say to a child, " Look at the wings of this 
beautiful butterfly, and I will give you a piece of plum- 
cake ; observe how the butterfly curls his proboscis, 
how he dives into the honeyed flowers, and I will take 
you in a coach to pay a visit with me, my dear. Re- 
member the pretty story you read this morning, and you 
shall have a new coat." Without the new coat, or the 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 197 

visit, or the plumcake, the child would have had suffi- 
cient amusement in the story, and the sight of the but- 
terfly's proboscis : the rewards, besides, have no natu- 
ral connexion with the things themselves ; and they 
create, where they are most liked, a taste for factitious 
pleasures. Would you encourage benevolence, gener- 
osity, or prudence, let each have its appropriate reward 
of affection, esteem, and confidence ;* but do not, by ill- 
judged bounties, attempt to force these virtues into pre- 
mature display. The rewards which are given to be- 
nevolence and generosity in children, frequently encour- 
age selfishness, and sometimes teach them cunning. 
Lord Kames tells us a story, which is precisely a case 
in point. Two boys, the sons of the Earl of Elgin, were 
permitted by their father to associate with the poor boys 
in the neighbourhood of their father's house. One day, 
the earl's sons being called to dinner, a lad who was 
playing with them said that he would wait until they 
returned — " There is no dinner for me at home," 
said the poor boy. " Come with us, then," said the 
earl's sons. The boy refused, and when they asked 
him if he had any money to buy a dinner, he answered, 
*' No." — " Papa," said the eldest of the young gentlemen 
when he got home, " what was the price of the silver 
buckles you gave me V — " Five shillings." — " Let me 
have the money, and I'll give you the buckles," It was 
done accordingly, says Lord Kames. The earl, inqui- 
ring privately, found that the money was given to the 
lad ivho had no dinner: The buckles were returned, and 
the boy was highly commended for being kind to his 
companion. The commendations were just, but the 
buckles should not have been returned : the boy should 
have been suflTered steadily to abide by his own bargain ; 
he should have been allowed to feel the pleasure, and 
pay the exact price of his own generosity. 

If we attempt to teach children that they can be gen- 
erous without giving up some of their own pleasures 
for the sake of other people, we attempt to teach them 
what is false. If we once make them amends for any 
sacrifice they have made, we lead them to expect the 
same remuneration upon a future occasion ; and then, 
in fact, they act with a direct view to their own interest, 

* See Locke, and aa excellent little essay of Madame de Lam- 
bert's. 



198 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and govern themselves by the calculations of prudence, 
instead of following the dictates of benevolence. It is 
true, that if we speak with accuracy, we must admit 
that the most benevolent and generous persons act from 
the hope of receiving pleasure, and their enjoyment is 
more exquisite than that of the most refined selfishness; 
in the language of M. de Rochefoucault, we should 
therefore be forced to acknowledge, that the most be- 
nevolent is always the most selfish person. This seem- 
ing paradox is answered by observing, that the epithet 
seljish is given to those who prefer pleasures in which 
other people have no share ; we change the meaning of 
words when we talk of its being selfish to like the pleas- 
ures of sympathy or benevolence, because these pleas- 
ures cannot be confined solely to the idea of self. When 
we say that a person pursues his own interest more by 
being generous than by being covetous, we take into 
the account the general sum of his agreeable feelings ; 
we do not balance prudentially his loss or gain upon 
particular occasions. The generous man may himself 
be convinced, that the sum of his happiness is more in- 
creased by the feelings of benevolence, than it could be 
by the gratification of avarice ; but, though his under- 
standing may perceive the demonstration of this moral 
theorem, though it is the remote principle of his whole 
conduct, it does not occur to his memory in the form of 
a prudential aphorism, whenever he is going to do a 
generous action. It is essential to our ideas of gener- 
osity, that no such reasoning should, at that moment, 
pass in his mind ; we know that the feelings of gener- 
osity are associated with a number of enthusiastic 
ideas ; we can sympathize with the virtuous insanity of 
the man who forgets himself while he thinks of others ; 
we do not so readily sympathize with the cold strength 
of mind of the person who, deliberately preferring the 
greatest possible share of happiness, is benevolent by rule 
and measure. 

Whether we are just or not in refusing our sympathy 
to the man of reason, and in giving our spontaneous ap- 
probation to the man of enthusiasm, we shall not here 
examine. But the reasonable man, who has been con- 
vinced of this propensity in human nature, will take it 
into his calculations ; he will perceive that he loses, in 
losing the pleasure of sympathy, part of the sum total 
of his possible happiness ; he will consequently wish 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 199 

that he could add this item of pleasure to the credit side 
of his account. This, however, he cannot accomplish; 
because, though he can by reason correct his calcula- 
tions, it is not in the power, even of the most potent 
reason, suddenly to break habitual associations ; much 
less is it in the power of cool reason to conjure up warm 
enthusiasm. Yet, in this case, enthusiasm is the thing 
required. 

What the man of reason cannot do for himself after 
his associations are strongly formed, might have been 
rasily accomplished in his early education. He might 
have been taught the same general principles, but with 
different habits. By early associating the pleasures of 
sympathy, and praise, and affection, with all generous 
and benevolent actions, his parents might have joined 
these ideas so forcibly in his mind, that the one set of 
ideas should never recur without the other. Whenever 
the words benevolence or generosity were pronounced, 
the feelings of habitual pleasure w^ould recur ; and he 
would, independently of reason, desire from association 
to be generous. When enthusiasm is fairly justified by 
reason, we have nothing to fear from her vehemence. 

In rewarding children for the prudential virtues, such 
as order, cleanliness, economy, temperance, &c., we 
should endeavour to make the rewards the immediate 
consequence of the virtues themselves ; and at the same 
time, approbation should be shown in speaking of these 
useful qualities. A gradation must, however, always 
be observed in our praises of different virtues ; those 
that are the most useful to society, as truth, justice, and 
humanity, must stand the highest in the scale ; those 
that are most agreeable, claim the next place. Those 
good qualities which must wait a considerable time for 
their reward, such as perseverance, prudence, &c., we 
must not expect early from young people. Till they 
have had experience, how can they form any idea about 
the future 1 Till they have been punctually re\varded 
for their industry, or for their prudence, they do not feel 
the value of prudence and perseverance. Time is ne- 
cessary to all these lessons, and those who leave time 
out in their calculations, \vill always be disappointed in 
whatever plan of education they may pursue. 

Many to whom the subject is famihar, will be fatigued, 
probably, by the detailed manner in which it has been 
thought necessary to explain the principles by which 



200 PRACTICAL EDUCAT^N. 

we should guide ourselves in the distribution of rewards 
and punishments to children. Those who quickly seize 
and apply general ideas, cannot endure, with patience, the 
tedious minuteness of didactic illustration. Those who. 
are actually engaged m practical education, will not, on the 
contrary, be satisfied with general precepts ; and, how- 
ever plausible any theory may appear, they are well 
aware that its utility must depend upon a variety of small 
circumstances, to which writers of theories often neg- 
lect to advert. At the 'hazard of being thought te- 
dious, those must be minute in explanation who de- 
sire to be generally useful. An old French writer,* 
more remarkable for originality of thought than for the 
graces of style, w^as once reproached hy a friend with 
the frequent repetitions which were to be found in his 
works. " Name them to me," said the author. The 
critic, with obliging precision, mentioned all the ideas 
which had most frequently recurred in the book. " I 
am satisfied," replied the honest author ; " you remem- 
ber my ideas ; I repeated them so often to prevent you 
from forgetting them. Without my repetitions, we 
should never have succeeded." 



CHAPTER X. 

ON SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 

The artless expressions of sympathy and sensibility 
in children, are peculiarly pleasing ; people who, in their 
commerce with the world, have been disgusted and de- 
ceived by falsehood and affectation, listen with delight 
to the genuine language of nature. Those who have 
any interest in the education of children, have yet a 
higher sense of pleasure in observing symptoms of their 
sensibility ; they anticipate the future virtues which early 
sensibility seems certainly to promise ; the future hap- 
piness which these virtues will diffuse. Nor are they 
unsupported by philosophy in these sanguine hopes. 
No theory was ever developed with more ingenious ele- 
gance, than that which deduces all our moral sentiments 

^ The Abbe St. Pierre. See his Eloge, by D'Aleiubert. 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 201 

from sympathy. The direct influence of sympathy upon 
all social beings is sufficiently obvious, and we imme- 
diately perceive its necessary connexion with compas- 
sion, friendship, and benevolence ; but the subject be- 
comes more intricate when we are to analyze our sense 
of propriety and justice ; of merit and demerit ; of grati- 
tude and resentment ; self-complacency or remorse ; 
ambition and shame.* 

We allow, without hesitation, that a being destitute 
of sympathy could never have any of these feehngs, and 
must, consequently, be incapable of all intercourse with 
society; yet we must at the same time perceive, that a 
being endowed with the most exquisite sympathy, must, 
without the assistance and education of reason, be, if 
not equally incapable of social intercourse, far more 
dangerous to the happiness of society. A person, gov- 
erned by sympathy alone, must be influenced by the bad 
as well as by the good passions of others ; he must feel 
resentment with the angry man ; hatred with the ma- 
levolent ; jealousy with the jealous ; and avarice with 
the miser : the more lively his sympathy with these 
painful feelings, the greater must be his misery; the 
more forcibly he is impelled to action by this sympa- 
thetic influence, the greater, probably, must be his im- 
prudence and his guilt. Let us even suppose a being 
capable of sympathy only with the best feelings of his 
fellow-creatures, — still, without the direction of reason, 
he would be a nuisance in the world ; his pity would 
stop the hand, and overturn the balance of justice ; his 
love would be as dangerous as his pity ; his gratitude 
would exalt his benefactor at the expense of the whole 
human race ; his sympathy with the rich, the prosper- 
ous, the great, and the fortunate, would be so sudden 
and so violent as to leave him no time for reflection 
upon the consequences of tyranny, or the miseries oc- 
casioned by monopoly. No time for reflection, did we 
say 1 We forgot that we were speaking of a being des- 
titute of the reasoning faculty ! Such a being, no mat- 
ter what his virtuous sympathies might be, must act 
either like a madman or a fool. On sympathy we can- 
not depend, either for the correctness of a man's moral 
sentiments, or for the steadiness of his moral conduct. 
It is very common to talk of the excellence of a person's 

* Adam Smith. 
13 



202 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

heart, of the natural goodness of his disposition ; when 
these expressions distinctly mean any thing, they must 
refer to natural sympathy, or a superior degree of sen- 
sibility. Experience, however, does not teach us that 
sensibility and virtue have any certain connexion with 
each other. No one can read the works of Sterne, or 
of Rousseau, without believing these men to have been 
endowed with extraordinary sensibility ; yet, who would 
propose their conduct in life as a model for imitation 1 
That quickness of sympathy with present objects of dis- 
tress which constitutes compassion, is usually thought 
a virtue, — but it is a virtue frequently found in persons 
of an abandoned character. Mandeville, in his essay 
upon charity-schools, puts this in a strong light. 

" Should any one of us," says he, " be locked up in a 
ground room, where, in a yard adjoining to it, there was 
a thriving, good-humoured child at play, of two or three 
years old, so near us that through the grates of the 
window we could almost touch it with our hands ; and 
if, v/hile we took deUght in the harmless diversion and 
imperfect prattle of the innocent babe, a nasty, over- 
grown sow should come in upon the child, set it a 
screaming, and frighten it out of its wits, — it is natural 
to think that this would make us uneasy, and that wiih 
crying out, and making all the menacing noise we could, 
we should endeavour to drive the sow away. But if 
this should happen to be a half-starved creature, that, 
mad with hunger, went roaming about in quest of food, 
and we should behold the ravenous brute, in spite of our 
cries, and all the threatening gestures we could think 
of, actually lay hold of the helpless infant, destroy, and 
devour it ; — to see her widely open her destructive jaws, 
and the poor lamb beat down with greedy haste ; to look 
on the defenceless posture of tender limbs first trampled 
upon, then torn asunder ; to see the filthy snout, digging 
ill the yet Uving entrails, suck up the smoking blood, 
and now and then to hear the crackling of the bones, 
and the cruel animal grunt with savage pleasure over 
the horrid banquet ; to hear and see all this, what tor- 
ture would it give the soul, beyond expression t * * * 
Not only a man of humanity, of good morals, and com- 
miseration, but likewise a highwayman, a house- 
breaker, or a murderer, could feel anxieties on such an 
occasion.'' 

Among tliose monsters who aro pointed out by the 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 203 

historian to the just detestation of all mankind, we meet 
with instances of casual sympathy and sensibility ; even 
their vices frequently prove to us, that they never be- 
came utterly indifferent to the opinion and feelings of 
their fellow-creatures. The dissimulation, jealousy, 
suspicion, and cruelty of Tiberius, originated, perhaps, 
more in his anxiety about the opinions which were 
formed of his character, than in his fears of any con- 
spiracies against his life. The ^' judge within,^'' the 
habit of viewing his own conduct in the light in which it 
was beheld by the impartial spectator^ prompted him to new 
crimes; and thus his unextinguished sympathy, and his 
exasperated sensibility, drove him to excesses from 
which a more torpid temperament might have preserved 
him.* When, upon his presenting the sons of German- 
icus to the senate, Tiberius beheld the tenderness with 
w^hich these young men were received, he was moved 
to such an agony of jealousy as instantly to beseech the 
senate that he might resign the empire. We cannot 
attribute, either to policy or fear, this strong emotion, 
because we know that the senate was at this time abso- 
lutely at the disposal of Tiberius, and the lives of the 
sons of Germanicus depended upon his pleasure. 

The desire to excel, according to " Smith's Theory 
of Moral Sentiments," is to be resolved principally into 
our love of the sympathy of our fellow-creatures. We 
wish for their sympathy, either in our success or- in the 
pleasure we feel in superiority. The desire for this 
refined modification of sympathy may be the motive of 
good and great actions ; but it cannot be trusted as a 
moral principle. Nero's love of sympathy made him 
anxious to be applauded on the stage as a fiddler and a 
buffoon. Tiberius banished one of his philosophic court- 
iers, and persecuted him till the unfortunate man laid 
violent hands upon himself, merely because he had dis- 
covered that the emperor read books in the morning to 
prepare himself with questions for his literary society 
at night. Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, sued in 
the most abject manner for an Olympic crown, and sent 
a critic to the galleys for finding fault with his verses. 
Had not these men a sufficient degree of sensibility to 
praise, and more than a suflicient desire for the sympa- 
thy of their fellow-creatures I 

* See Smith, 



204 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

It is not from any perverse love of sophistry, that the 
word sensibility has been used in these instances instead 
of irritahility, which seems better to characterize the 
temper of a Dionysius or a Tiberius ; but, in fact, irri- 
tability, in common language, merely denotes an exces- 
sive or ill-governed degree of sensibility. The point 
of excess must be marked : sympathy must be regulated 
by education ; and consequently the methods of directing 
sensibility to useful and amiable purposes, must be 
anxiously studied by all who wish for the happiness or 
virtue of their pupils. 

Long before children can understand reasoning, they 
can feel sympathy ; during this early period of their 
education, example and habit, slight external circum- 
stances, and the propensity to imitation, govern their 
thoughts and actions. Imitation is the involuntary effect 
of sympathy in children ; hence, those who have the most 
sympathy are most liable to be improved or injured by 
early examples. Examples of the malevolent passions 
should therefore be most carefully excluded from the 
sight of those who have yet no choice in their sym^thy ; 
expressions of kindness and affection in the countenance, 
the voice, the actions, of all who approach, and of all 
who have the care of infants, are not only immediately 
and evidently agreeable to the children, but ought also 
to be used as the best possible means of exciting benevo- 
lent sympathies in their minds. Children who habitually 
meet with kindness, habitually feel complacency ; that 
species of instinctive, or rather of associated affection, 
which always rises in the mind from the recollection of 
past pleasures, is immediately excited in such children 
by the sight of their parents. By an easy transition of 
ideas, they expect the same benevolence, even from 
strangers, which they have experienced from their 
friends, and their sympathy naturally prepares them to 
wish for society ; this wish is often improperly indulged. 

At the age when children begin to unfold their ideas, 
and to express their thoughts in words, they are such 
interesting and entertaining companions, that they at^ 
tract a large portion of our daily attention : we listen 
eagerly to their simple observations ; we enter into their 
young astonishment at every new object ; we are de- 
lighted to watch all their emotions ; we help them with 
words to express their ideas ; we anxiously endeavour 
to understand their imperfect reasonings, and are pleased 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 205 

to find, or put them in the right. This season of uni- 
versal smiles and courtesy is delightful to children 
while it lasts, but it soon passes away ; they soon speak 
without exciting any astonishment ; and, instead of meet- 
ing with admiration for every attempt to express an idea, 
they are soon repulsed for troublesome volubility ; even 
when they talk sense, they are suffered to talk unheard, 
or else they are checked for unbecoming presumption. 
Children feel this change in public opinion and manners 
most severely ; they are not sensible of any change in 
themselves, except, perhaps, they are conscious of hav- 
ing improved both in sense and language. Tliis un- 
merited loss of their late gratuitous allowance of sym- 
pathy usually operates unfavourably upon the temper 
of the sufferers ; they become shy, and silent, and re- 
served, if not sullen ; they withdraw from our capricious 
society, and they endeavour to console themselves with 
other pleasures. It is difficult to them to feel contented 
with their own little occupations and amusements, for 
want of the spectators and the audience which used to 
be at their command. Children of a timid temper, or 
of an indolent disposition, are quite dispirited and bereft 
of all energy in these circumstances; others, with 
greater vivacity, and more voluntary exertion, en- 
deavour to supply the loss of universal sympathy by 
the invention of independent occupations ; but they feel 
anger and indignation when they are not rewarded with 
any smiles or any praise for their " virtuous toil." They 
naturally seek for new companions, either among chil- 
dren of their own age, or among complaisant servants. 
Immediately all the business of education is at a stand ; 
for neither these servants nor these playfellows are 
capable of becoming their instructers; nor can tutors 
hope to succeed, who have transferred their power over 
the pleasures, and consequently over the affections of 
their pupils. Sympathy now becomes the declared 
enemy of all the constituted authorities. What chance 
is there of obedience or of happiness under such a gov- 
ernment ? 

Would it not be more prudent to prevent than to 
complain of these evils'? Sympathy is our first, best 
friend in education, and, by judicious management, 
might long continue our faithful ally. 

Instead of lavishing our smiles and our attention upon 
young children for a short period, just at that age when 



206 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

they are amusing pla5'things, should we not do more 
wisely if we reserved some portion of our kindness a 
few years longer ? By a proper economy, our sympathy 
may last for many years, and may continually contribute 
to the most useful purposes. Instead of accustoming 
our pupils early to such a degree of our attention as can- 
not be supported long on our parts, we should rather 
suffer them to feel a little ennui, at that age when they 
can have but few independent or useful occupations. 
We should employ ourselves in our usual manner, and 
converse, without allowing children to interrupt us with 
frivolous prattle; but whenever they ask sensible ques- 
tions, make just observations, or show a disposition to 
acquire knowledge, we should assist and encourage 
them with praise and affection; gradually, as they 
become capable of taking any part in conversation, they 
should be admitted into society ; and they will learn of 
themselves, or we may teach them, that useful and 
agreeable qualities are those by which they must secure 
the pleasures of sympathy. Esteem being associated 
with sympathy, will increase its value ; and this con- 
nexion should be made as soon, and kept as sacred in 
the mind as possible. 

With respect to the sympathy which children feel for 
each other, it must be carefully managed, or it will coun- 
teract, instead of assisting us, in education. It is natural 
that those who are placed nearly in the same circum- 
stances should feel alike, and sympathize with one 
another ; but children feel only for the present ; they 
have few ideas of the future ; and consequently all that 
they can desire, either for themselves or for their com- 
panions, is what will immediately please. Education 
looks to the future ; and frequently we must ensure fu- 
ture advantage, even at the expense of present pain or 
restraint. The companion and the tutor then, supposing 
each to be equally good and equally kind, must com- 
mand, in a very different degree, the sj^mpathy of the 
child. It may, notwithstanding, be questioned, whether 
those who are constant companions in their idle hours, 
when they are vei-y young, are likely to be either as fond 
of one another when they grow up, or even as happy 
while they are children, as those are who spend less 
time together. Whenever the humours, interests, and 
passions of others cross our own, there is an end of 
sympathy ; and this happens almost every hour in the 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 207 

day witli children : it is generally supposed, that they 
learn to live in friendship with each other, and to bear 
with one another's httle faults habitually; that they 
even reciprocally cure these faults, and learn, by ex- 
perience, those principles of honour and justice on 
which society depends. We may be deceived in this 
reasoning by a false analogy. 

We call the society of children, society in miniature ; 
the proportions of the miniature are so much altered, 
that it is by no means an accurate resemblance of that 
which exists in the civilized world. Among children of 
different ages, strength, and talents, there must always 
be tyranny, injustice, and that worst species of ine- 
quality, which arises from superior force on the one 
side, and abject timidity on the other. Of this, the 
spectators of juvenile disputes and quarrels are some- 
times sensible ; and they hastily interfere and endeavour 
to part the combatants, by pronouncing certain moral 
sentences, such as, " Good boys never quarrel ; brothers 
must love and help one another." But these sentences 
seldom operate as a charm upon the angry passions ; 
the parties concerned hearing it asserted that they 
must love one another, at the very instant when they 
happen to feel that they cannot, are still farther exas- 
perated, and they stand at bay, sullen in hatred, or ap- 
proach, hypocritical in reconciliation. It is more easy 
to prevent occasions of dispute than to remedy the bad 
consequences which petty altercations produce. Young 
children should be kept asunder at all times, and in all 
situations, in which it is necessary, or probable, that 
their appetites and passions should be in direct compe- 
tition. Two hungry children with their eager eyes fixed 
upon one and the same basin of bread and milk, do not 
sympathize with each other, though they have the same 
sensations ; each perceives, that if the other eats the 
bread and milk, he cannot eat it. Hunger is more 
powerful than sympathy ; but satisfy the hunger of one 
of the parties, and he will begin to feel for his com- 
panion, and will, wish that his hunger should also be 
satisfied. Even Mr. Barnet, the epicure, who is so well 
described in Moore's excellent novel,* after he has 
crammed himself to the throat, asks his wife to " try to 
cat a bit." Intelligent preceptors will apply the instance 

* Edward. 



208 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

of the basin of bread and milk, in a variety of apparently 
dissimilar circumstances. 

We may observe, that the more quickly children 
reason, the sooner they discover how far their interests 
are any way incompatible with the interests of their 
companions. The more readily a boy calculates, the 
sooner he will perceive, that if he were to share his 
basin of bread and milk equally with a dozen of his 
companions, his own portion must be small. The ac- 
curacy of his mental division would prevent him from 
offering to part with that share which, perhaps, a more 
ignorant accountant would be ready to surrender at 
once, without being on that account more generous. 
Children who are accurate observers of the counte- 
nance, and who have a superior degree of penetration, 
discover very early the symptoms of displeasure or of 
affection in their friends ; they also perceive quickjy 
the dangers of rivalship from their companions. If ex- 
perience convinces them that they must lose in propor- 
tion as their companions gain, either in fame or in 
favour, they will necessarily dislike them as rivals ; 
their hatred will be as vehement as their love of praise 
and affection is ardent. Thus, children who have the 
most lively sympathy, are, unless they be judiciously 
educated, the most in danger of feeling early the ma- 
levolent passions of jealousy and envy. It is inhuman, 
and in every point of view unjustifiable in us, to ex- 
cite these painful feelings in children, as we too often 
do, by the careless or partial distribution of affection 
and applause. Exact justice will best prevent jealousy ; 
each individual submits to justice, because each, in turn, 
feels the benefit of its protection. Some preceptors, 
with benevolent intentions, labour to preserve a perfect 
equality among their pupils, and, from the fear of ex- 
citing envy \n those who are inferior, avoid uttering any 
encomiums upon superior talents and merit. This man- 
agement seldom succeeds ; the truth cannot be con- 
cealed ; those who feel their own superiority, make 
painful reflections upon the injustice done to them by 
the policy of their tutors ; those who are sensible of 
their own inferiority, are not comforted by the courtesy 
and humiliating forbearance with which they are treated. 
It is, therefore, best to speak the plain truth ; to give to 
all their due share of affection and applause ; at the 
same time, we should avoid blaming one child at tho 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 209 

moment when we praise another : we should never put 
our pupils in contrast with one another ; nor yet should 
we deceive them as to their respective excellences and 
defects. Our comparison should rather be made between 
what the pupil has been and what he is, than between 
what he is and what anybody else is not.* By this 
style of praise we may induce children to become emu- 
lous of their former selves, instead of being envious of 
their competitors. Without deceit or affectation, we may 
also take care to associate general pleasure in a family 
with particular conmiendations ; thus, if one boy is re- 
markable for prudence, and another for generosity, we 
should not praise the generosity of the one at the ex- 
pense of the prudence of the other, but we should give 
to each virtue its just measure of applause. If one girl 
sings, and another draws, remarkably well, we may 
show that we are pleased with both agreeable accom- 
plishments, without bringing them into comparison. 
Nor is it necessary that we should be in a desperate 
hurry to balance the separate degrees of praise which we 
distribute exactly at the same moment, because if chil- 
dren are sure that the reward of their industry and in- 
genuity is secured by our justice, they will trust to us, 
though that reward may be for a few hours delayed. It 
is only where workmen have no confidence in the in- 
tegrity or punctuality of their masters, that they are im- 
patient of any accidental delay in the payment of their 
wages. 

With the precautions which have been mentioned, 
we may hope to see children grow up in real friendship 
together. The whole sum of their pleasure is much in- 
creased by mutual sympathy. This happy moral truth, 
upon which so many of our virtues depend, should be 
impressed upon the mind ; it should be clearly demon- 
strated to the reason ; it should not be repeated as an a 
priori, sentimental assertion. 

Those who have observed the sudden, violent, and 
surprising effects of emulation in public schools, will re- 
gret the want of this power in the intellectual education 
of their pupils at home: Even the acquisition of talents 
and knowledge ought, however, to be but a secondary 
consideration, subordinate to the general happiness of 
our pupils. If we could have superior knowledge, upon 

* See Rousseau and Williams, 



210 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

condition that we should have a malevolent dispo- 
sition and an irritable temper, should we, setting every 
other moral consideration aside, be willing to make the 
purchase at such a price "? Let any person, desirous to 
see a striking picture of the effects of scholastic com- 
petition upon the moral character, look at the life of that 
wonder of his age, the celebrated Abeillard. As the 
taste and manners of the present times are so different 
from those of the age in which he lived, we see, with- 
out any species of deception, the real value of the learn- 
ing in which he excelled, and we can judge, both of his 
acquirements and of his character, without prejudice. 
We see him goaded on, by rivalship and literary am- 
bition, to astonishing exertions at one time ; at another, 
torpid in monkish indolence : at one time, we see him 
intoxicated with adulation ; at another, listless, de- 
sponding, abject, incapable of maintaining his own self- 
approbation without the suffrages of those whom he 
despised. If his biographer* does him justice, a more 
selfish, irritable, contemptible, miserable being than the 
learned Abeillard, could scarcely exist. 

A philosopher,! who, if we might judge of him by 
the benignity of his writings, was surely of a most 
amiable and happy temper, has yet left us a melancholy 
and discouraging history of the unsociable condition of 
men of superior knowledge and abilities. He supposes 
that those who have devoted much time to the cultiva- 
tion of their understandings, have habitually less sym- 
pathy, or less exercise for their sympathy, than those 
who live less abstracted from the world ; that, conse- 
quently, " all their social, and all their public affections, 
lose their natural warmth and vigour," while their selfish 
j)assions are cherished and strengthened, being kept in 
constant play by literary rivalship. It is to be hoped, 
that there are men of the most extensive learning and 
genius, now living, who could, from their own experi- 
ence, assure us that these are obsolete observations, no 
longer applicable to modern human nature. At all 
events, we, who refer so nmch to education, are hope- 
fully of opinion, that education can prevent these evils, 



* Berington. See his Life of Abeillard. 

t Dr. John Gregory. Comparative View of the State and Fac- 
ulties of Man with those of the Animal World. See vol. ii. ot 
WorkS; froiu page 100 to 114. 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 211 

ill common with almost all the other evils of life. It 
would be an error, fatal to all improvement, to believe 
that the cultivation of the undcrstandins,^ impedes the 
exercise of the social affections. Obviously, a man 
who secludes himself from the world, and whose whole 
life is occupied with abstract studies, cannot enjoy any 
pleasure from his social affections ; his admiration of 
the dead is so constant, that he has no time to feel any 
sympathy with the living. An individual of this rumi- 
nating species is humorously delineated in Mrs. D'Ar- 
blay's Camilla. Men who are compelled to unrelenting 
labour, v/hether by avarice or by literary ambition, are 
equally to be pitied. They are not models for imita- 
tion ; they sacrifice their happiness to some strong pas- 
sion or interest. Without this ascetic abstinence from 
the domestic and social pleasures of hfe, surely persons 
may cultivate their understandings, and acquire, even 
by mixing with their fellow-creatures, a variety of use- 
ful knowledge. 

An nigenious theory* supposes that the exercise of any 
of our faculties is always attended with pleasure, which 
lasts as long as that exercise can be continued M'ithout 
fatigue. This pleasure, arising from the due exercise 
of our mental powers, the author of this theory main- 
tains to be the foundation of our most agreeable senti- 
ments. If there be any truth in these ideas, of how 
many agreeable sentiments must a man of sense bo 
capable! The pleasures of society must to him in- 
crease in an almost incalculable proportion ; because, 
in conversation, his faculties can never want subjects 
on which they may be amply exercised. The dearth 
of conversation, which everybody may have felt in cer- 
tain company, is always attended with mournful coun- 
tenances, and every symptom of ennui. Indeed, with- 
out the pleasures of conversation, society is reduced to 
meetings of people, who assemble to eat and drink, to 
show their fine clothes, to weary and to hate each 
other. The sympathy of bon vivants is, it must be ac- 
knowledged, very lively and sincere towards each other ; 
but this can last only during the hour of dinner, unless they 
revive, and prolong, by the powers of imagination, the 
memory of the feast. Some foreign traveller! tells us, 

* Vernet's Theorie des Sentimens Agreables, 
t See Varieties of Literature, vol. i. 



212 TRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

that " every year at Naples, an officer of the poUce 
goes through the city, attended by a trumpeter, who 
proclaims in all the squares and crossways how many 
thousand oxen, calves, lambs, hogs, &c. the Neapolitans 
have had the honour of eating in the course of the year. 
The people all listen with extreme attention to this 
proclamation, and are immoderately delighted at the huge 
amount." 

A degree, and scarcely one degree, above the brute 
sympathy of good eaters, is that gregarious propensity 
which is sometimes honoured with the name of socia- 
bility. The current sympathy, or appearance of sym- 
pathy, which is to be found among the idle and frivolous 
in fashionable life, is wholly unconnected with even 
the idea of esteem. It is therefore pernicious to all 
who partake of it ; it excites to no great exertions ; it 
rewards neither useful nor amiable qualities : on the 
contrary, it is to be obtained by vice rather than by 
virtue ; by folly much more readily than by wisdom. 
It is the mere follower of fashion and of dissipation, 
and it keeps those in humour and countenance who 
ought to hear the voice of public reproach, and who 
might be roused by the fear of disgrace or the feelings 
of shame, to exertions which should justly entitle them 
to the approbation and affection of honourable friends. 

Young people who are early in life content with this 
convivial sympathy, may, in the common phrase, become 
very good pleasant companions ; but there is little chance 
that they should ever become any thing more, and there 
is great danger that they may be led into any degree 
of folly, extravagance, or vice, to which fashion and 
the voice of numbers invite. It sometimes happens, 
that men of superior abilities have such an indiscrim- 
inate love of applause and sympathy, that they reduce 
themselves to the standard of all their casual compan- 
ions, and vary their objects of ambition with the opinion 
of the silly people with whom they chance to associate. 
In public life, party spirit becomes the ruling principle 
of men of this character; in private life, they are ad- 
dicted to clubs and associations of all sorts, in which 
the contagion of sympathy has a power which the sober 
influence of reason seldom ventures to correct. The 
waste of talents and the total loss of principle to which 
this indiscriminate love of sympathy leads, should warn 
us to guard against its influence by early education. 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 213 

The gregarious propensity in childhood should not be 
indulged without precautions : unless their companions 
are well educated, we can never be reasonably secure 
of the conduct or happiness of our pupils : from sym- 
pathy, they catch all the wishes, tastes, and ideas of 
those with whom they associate ; and what is still 
worse, they acquire the dangerous habits of resting 
upon the support, and of wanting the stimulus of num- 
bers. It is, surely, far more prudent to let children feel 
a little ennui, from the want of occupation and of com- 
pany, than to purchase for them the juvenile pleasures 
of society at the expense of their future happiness. 
Childhood, as a part of our existence, ought to have as 
great a share of happiness as it can enjoy compatibly 
with the advantage of the other seasons of life. By 
this principle we should be guided, in all which we 
allow and in all which we refuse to children ; by this 
rule, we may avoid unnecessary severity and pernicious 
indulgence. 

As young people gradually acquire knowledge, they 
will learn to converse ; and when they have the habits of 
conversing rationally, they will not desire companions 
who can only chatter. They will prefer the company 
of friends, who can sympathize in their occupations, 
to the presence of ignorant idlers, who can fill up the 
void of ideas with nonsense and noise. Some people 
have a notion that the understanding and the heart. 
are not to be educated at the same time ; but the 
very reverse of this is, perhaps, true ; neither can be 
brought to any perfection, unless both are cultivated 
together. 

We should not, therefore, expect premature virtues. 
During childhood, but few opportunities occur of exert- 
ing the virtues which are recommended in books, such 
as humanity and generosity. 

The humanity of children cannot, perhaps, properly 
be said to be exercised upon animals ; they are fre- 
quently extremely fond of animals, but they are not 
always equable in their fondness ; they sometimes treat 
their favourites with that caprice which favourites are 
doomed to experience ; this caprice degenerates into 
cruelty, if it is resented by the sufferer. We must not 
depend merely upon the natural feelings of compassion 
as preservatives against cruelty ; the instinctive feelings 
of compassion are strong, among uneducated people; 



214 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

yet these do not restrain them from acts of cruelty. 
They take delight, it has often been observed, in all 
tragical, sanguinary spectacles, because these excite 
emotion, and relieve them from the listless state in 
which their days usually pass. It is the same with all 
persons, in all ranks of life, whose minds are unculti- 
vated.* Until young people have fixed habits of be- 
nevolence, and a taste for occupation, perhaps it is not 
prudent to trust them with the care or protection of 
animals. Even when they are enthusiastically fond of 
them, they cannot, by their utmost ingenuity, make 
the animals so happy in a state of captivity as they 
would be in a state of liberty. They are apt to insist 
upon doing animals good against their will, and they are 
often unjust in the defence of their favourites. A boy 
of seven years old once knocked down his sister, to 
prevent her crushing his caterpillar.! 

Children should not be taught to confine their be- 
nevolence to those animals which are thought beauti- 
ful ; the fear and disgust which we express at the sight 
of certain unfortunate animals, which we are pleased 
to call ugly and shocking, are observed by children, and 
these associations lead to cruelty. If we do not pre- 
judice our pupils by foolish exclamations; if they do 
not, from sympathy, catch our absurd antipathies, their 
benevolence towards the animal world will not be illib- 
erally confined to favourite lapdogs and singing-birds. 
From association, most people think that frogs are ugly 

animals. L , a boy between five and six years 

old, once begged his mother to come out to look at a 
beautiful animal which he had just found ; she was 
rather surprised to find that this beautiful creature was 
a frog. 

If children never see others torment animals, they 
will not think that cruelty can be an amusement ; but 
they may be provoked to revenge the pain which is in- 
flicted upon them ; and therefore we should take care 
not to put children in situations where they are liable 
to be hurt or terrified by animals. Could we possibly 
expect that Gulliver should love the Brobdignagian wasp 



* Can it be true, that an English nobleman, in the 18th century, 
won a bet by procuring a man to eat a cat ahve ? 

t See Moore's Edward, for tlie Boy and Larks, an excellent story 

for cluklren. 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 215 

that buzzed round his cake, and prevented him from 
eating his breakfast ? Could we expect that Gulliver 
should be ever reconciled to the rat against which he 
was obhged to draw his sword 1 Many animals are, to 
children, what the wasp and the rat were to Gulliver. 
Put bodily fear out of the case — it required all uncle 
Toby's benevolence to bear the buzzing of a gnat while 
he was eating his dinner. Children, even when they have 
no cause to be afraid of animals, are sometimes in situa- 
tions to be provoked by them ; and the nice casuist will 
find it difficult to do strict justice upon the offended and 
the offenders. 

October 2, 1796. S , nine years old, took care 

of his brother H 's hotbed for some time, when 

H' was absent from home. He was extremely 

anxious about his charge ; he took one of his sisters to 
look at the hotbed, showed her a hole where the mice 
came in, and expressed great hatred against the whole 
race. He the same day asked his mother for a bait for 
the mousetrap ; his mother refused to give him one, 
telling him that she did not wish he should learn to kill 
animals. How good-nature sometimes leads to the 
opposite feeling! S 's love for his brothers cu- 
cumbers made him imagine and compass the death of 
the mice. Children should be protected against ani- 
mals which we do not wish that they should hate : if 
cats scratch them, and dogs bite them, and mice devour 
the fruits of their industry, children must consider these 
animals as enemies ; they cannot love them, and they 
may learn the habit of revenge, from being exposed to 
their insults and depredations. Pythagoras himself 
would have insisted upon his exclusive right to the 
vegetables on which he was to subsist, especially if he 
had raised them by his own care and industry. Buf- 
fon,* notwithstanding all his benevolent philosophy, can 
scarcely speak with patience of his enemies, the field- 
mice ; which, when he was trying experiments upon the 
culture of forest trees, tormented him perpetually by 
their insatiable love of acorns. " I was terrified,'''' says 
he, " at the discovery of half a bushel, and often a whole 
bushel, of acorns in each of the holes inhabited by these 
little animals ; they had collected these acorns for their 
winter provision." The philosopher gave orders im- 

* Mem. de I'Acad. R. for the vear 1742, p. 332. 



216 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

mediately for the erection of a great number of traps 
and snares, baited with broiled nuts ; in less than three 
weeks, nearly three hundred fieldmice were killed or 
taken prisoners. Mankind are obliged to carry on a 
defensive war with the animal world. " Eat or be eaten," 
says Doctor Darwin, " is the great law of nature." It is 
fortunate for us that there are butchers by profession 
in the world, and rat-catchers and cats, otherwise our 
habits of benevolence and sympathy would be utterly 
destroyed. Children, though they must perceive the 
necessity for destroying certain animals, need not be 
themselves executioners ; they should not conquer the 
natural repugnance to the sight of the struggles of pain 
and the convulsions of death; their aversion to being 
the cause of pain should be preserved, both by principle 
and habit. 'I'hose who have not been habituated to the 
bloody form of cruelty, can never fix their eye upon her 
without shuddering ; even those to whom she may- 
have, in some instances, been early familiarized, recoil 
from her appearance in any shape to which they have 
not been accustomed. At one of the magnificent shows 
with which Pompey* entertained the Roman people/or 
five days successively, the populace enjoyed the death 
of wild beasts : five hundred lions were killed ; but, on 
the last day, when twenty elephants were put to death, 
the people, unused to the sight, and moved by the la- 
mentable bowlings of these animals, were seized with 
sudden compassion ; they execrated Pompey himself 
for being the author of so much cruelty. 

Charity for the poor is often inculcated in books for 
children ; but how is this virtue to be actually brougiit 
into practice in childhood ? Unless proper objects of 
charity are selected by the parents, children have no 
opportunities of discovering them ; they have not suffi- 
cient knowledge of the world to distinguish truth from 
falsehood in the comphunts of the distressed ; nor have 
they sufficiently enlarged views to discern the best 
means of doing good to their fellow-creatures. They 
may give away money to the poor, but they do not al- 
ways feel the value of what they give ; they give coun- 
ters : supplied with all the necessaries and luxuries of 
life, they have no use for money ; they feel no priva- 
tion ; they make no sacrifice in giving money away, or, 

* See Middleton's Life of Cicero, vol. i. p. 474, 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 217 

at least, none worthy to be extolled as heroic. When 
children grow up, they learn the value of money ; their 
generosity will then cost them rather more effort, and 
yet can be rewarded only with the same expressions 
of gratitude, with the same blessings from the beggar, 
or the same applause from the spectator. 

Let us put charity out of the question, and suppose 
that the generosity of children is displayed in making 
presents to their companions, still there are difficulties. 
These presents are usually baubles, which at the best 
can encourage only a frivolous taste. But we must 
further consider, that even generous children are apt to 
expect generosity equal to their own from their com- 
panions; then come tacit or explicit comparisons of the 
value or elegance of their respective gifts ; the difficult 
rules of exchange and barter are to be learned ; and 
nice calculations of Tare and Tret are entered into by 
the repentant borrowers and lenders. A sentimental, 
too often ends in a commercial intercourse ; and those 
who begin with the most munificent dispositions, some- 
times end with selfish discontent, low cunning, or dis- 
gusting ostentation. Whoever has carefully attended 
to young makers of presents and makers of bargains, 
will not think this account of them much exaggerated. 

" Then what is to be done ] How are the social affec- 
tions to be developed ^ How is the sensibility of chil- 
dren to be tried T How is the young heart to display 
its most amiable feelings ]" a sentimental preceptress 
will impatiently inquire. 

The amiable feelings of the heart need not be dis- 
played ; they may be sufficiently exercised without the 
stimulus either of our eloquence or our applause. In 
Madame de Silleri's account of the education of the 
children of the Duke of Orleans, there appears rather 
too much sentimental artifice and management. When 
the Dutchess of Orleans was ill, the children were in- 
structed to write " charming notes" from day to day, 
and from hour to hour, to inquire how she did. Once 
when a servant was going from St. Leu to Paris, 
Madame de Silleri asked her pupils if they had any 
commissions ; the little Duke de Chartres said, yes, 
and gave a message about a birdcage, but he did not 
recollect to write to his mother, till somebody whis- 
pered to him that he had forgotten it. Madame de Sil- 
leri calls this childish forgetfulness a "heinous offence ;'' 
K 



218 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

but was it not very natural, that the boy should think 
of his birdcage ] and what mother would wish that her 
children should have it put in their head to inquire after 
her health in the complimentary style 1 Another time 
Madame de Silleri is displeased with her pupils, because 
they did not show sufficient sympathy and concern for 
her when she had a headache or sore throat. The exact 
number of messages which, consistently with the strict 
duties of friendship, they ought to have sent, are upon 
another occasion prescribed. 

" I had yesterday afternoon a violent attack of the 
cholic, and you discovered the greatest sensibility. By 
the journal of M. le Brun, I find it was the Duke de 
Montpensier who thought this morning of writing to 
inquire how I did. You left me yesterday in a very 
calm state, and there was no reason for anxiety ; but, 
consistently with the strict duties of friendship, you 
ought to have given orders before you went to bed, for 
inquiries to be made at eight o'clock in the morning, to 
know whether I had had any return of my complaint 
during the night ; and you should again have sent at 
ten, to learn from myself, the instant I awoke, the exact 
state of my health. Such are the benevolent and ten- 
der cares which a lively and sincere friendship dictates. 
You must accustom yourselves to the observance of 
them, if you wish to be beloved." 

Another day, Madame de Silleri told the Duke de 
Chartres that he had a very idiotic appearance, because, 
when he went to see his mother, his attention was 
taken up by two paroquets which happened to be in 
the room. All these reproaches and documents could 
not, we should apprehend, tend to increase the real sen- 
sibility and affection of children. Gratitude is one of 
the most certain, but one of the latest, rewards, which 
preceptors and parents should expect from their pupils. 
Those who are too impatient to wait for the gradual 
development of the affections, will obtain from their 
children, instead of warm, genuine, enlightened grati- 
tude, nothing but the expression of cold, constrained, 
stupid hypocrisy. During the process of education, a 
child cannot perceive its ultimate end; how can he 
judge whether the means employed by his parents are 
well adapted to effect their purposes 1 Moments of re- 
straint and of privation, or perhaps of positive pain, must 
be endured by children under the mildest system of edu- 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILIIY. 219 

cation ; they must, therefore, perceive, tliat their pa- 
rents are the immediate cause of some evil to them ; 
the remote good is beyond their view. And can we 
expect from an infant the systematic resignation Oi 
an optimist ? Belief upon trust is very different from 
that which arises from experience ; and no one, who 
understands the human heart, will expect incompatible 
feelings . in the mind of a child, the feeling of present 
pain is incompatible with gratitude. Mrs. Macauley 
mentions a striking instance of extorted gratitude. A 
poor child who had been taught to return thanks for 
every thing, had a bitter medicine given to her ; when 
she had drank it, she courtesied and said, "Thank you 
for my good stuff*." There was a mistake in the medi- 
cine, and the child died the next morning. 

Children who are not sentimentally educated, often 
offend by their simplicity, and frequently disgust people 
of impatient feelings by their apparent indifference to 
things which are expected to touch their sensibility. 
Let us be content with nature, or rather let us never 
exchange simplicity for affectation. Nothing hurts 
young people more than to be watched continually about 
their feehngs, to have their countenances scrutiniz/Cd, 
and the degrees of their sensibility measured by the 
surveying eye of the unmerciful spectator. Under the 
constraint of such examinations, they can think of 
nothing, but that they are looked at, and feel nothing but 
shame or apprehension : they are afraid to lay their 
mindt! open, lest they should be convicted of some de- 
ficiency of feeling. On the contrary, children who are 
not in dread of this sentimental inquisition, speak their 
minds, the truth, and the whole truth, without effort or 
disguise: they lay open their hearts, and tell their 
thoughts as they arise, with simplicity that wouM not 
fear to enter even " The palace of Truth."* 

A little girl, Ho , who was not quite four years 

old, asked her mother to give her a plaything ; one 
of her sisters had just before asked for the same thing. 
" I cannot give it to you both," said the mother. 

Ho . No, but I wish you to give it to me, and not 

to E . 

Mother. Don't you wish your sister to have what she 
wants \ 

* See Le Palais de la Verite. — Madame de Geniis Veill^e? (b.i 
Chateau. 

K 2 



220 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Ho . Mother, if I say that I don't wish so, will 

you give it to me ] 

Perhaps this naivete might have displeased some scru- 
pulous admirers of politeness, who could not discover 
in it symptoms of that independent simplicity of charac- 
ter, for which the child who made this speech was dis- 
tinguished. 

" Do you always love me V said a mother to her son, 
who was about four years old. 

" Always," said the child, " except when I am asleep." 

Mother. " And why do you not love me when you are 
asleep V 

Son. " Because I do not think of you then." 

This sensible answer showed that the boy reflected 
accurately upon his own feelings, and a judicious pa- 
rent ihust consequently have a sober certainty of his 
affection. The thoughtless caresses of children who 
are never accustomed to reason, are lavished alike upon 
strangers and friends, and their fondness of to-day 
may, without any reasonable cause, become aversion by 
to-morrow. 

Children are often asked to tell which of their friends 
they love the best, but they are seldom required to as- 
sign any reason for their choice. It is not prudent to 
question them frequently about their own feelings ; but 
whenever they express any decided preference, we 
should endeavour to lead, not to drive them to reflect 
upon the reasons for their aff"ection. They will proba- 
bly at first mention some particular instance of kind- 
ness which thej' have lately received from the person 
whom they prefer. " I like such a person because he 
mended my top." — " I like such another because he took 
me out to walk with him and let me gather flowers." 
By degrees we may teach children to generalize their 
ideas, and to perceive that they like people for being 
either useful or agreeable. 

The desire to return kindness by kindness arises very 
early in the mind ; and the hope of conciliating the 
good-will of the powerful beings by whom they are sur- 
rounded, is one of the first wishes that appears in the 
minds of intelligent and aff'ectionate children. From 
this sense of mutual dependance the first principles of 
social intercourse are deduced ; and we may render our 
pupils either mean sycophants, or useful and honourable 
members of society, by the methods which we use to 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 221 

direct their first efforts to please. It should be our ob- 
ject to convince them, that the exchange of mutual 
good offices contributes to happiness ; and while we 
connect the desire to assist others with the perception 
of the beneficial consequences that eventually arise to 
themselves, we may be certain that children will never 
become blindly selfish or idly sentimental. We cannot 
help admiring the simplicity, strength of mind, and good 
sense, of a little girl of four years old, who, when she 
was put into a stagecoach with a number of strangers, 
looked round upon them all, and, after a few minutes' 
silence, addressed them, with the imperfect articulation 
of infancy, in the following words : 

" If you'll be good to me, I'll be good to you." 

While we were writing upon sympathy and sensi- 
bility, we met with the following apposite passage : 

" In 1765, 1 was," says M. de St. Pierre, " at Dresden, 
at a play acted at court; it was the Pere de Famille. 
The electoress came in with one of her daughters, who 
might be about five or six years old. An officer of the 
Saxon guards, who came with me to the play, whis- 
pered, ' That child will interest you as much as the 
play.' As soon as she was seated, she placed both her 
hands on the front of the box, fixed her eyes upon the 
stage, and continued with her mouth open, all attention 
to the motions of the actors. It was truly touching to 
see their diff"erent passions painted on her face as in a 
glass. There appeared in her countenance successively, 
anxiety, surprise, melancholy, and grief; at length, the 
interest increasing in every scene, tears began to flow, 
which soon ran in abundance down her little cheeks ; 
then came agitation, sighs, and loud sobs ; at last they 
were obliged to carry her out of the box, lest she should 
choke herself with crying. My next neighbour told 
me, that every time that this young princess came to a 
pathetic play, she was obliged to leave the house before 
the catastrophe." 

'* I have seen," continues M. de St. Pierre, " instances 
of sensibility still more touching among the children of 
the common people, because the emotion was not here 
produced by any theatrical effect. As I was walking 
some years ago in the Pre St. Gervais, at the beginning 
of winter, I saw a poor woman lying on the ground, 
busied in weeding a bed of sorrel ; near her was a little 
girl of six years old at the utmost, standing motionless, 



222 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and all purple with cold. I addressed myself to this 
woman, who appeared to be ill, and I asked her what 
was the matter with her. Sir, said she, for these three 
months I have suffered terribly from the rheumatism, 
but my illness troubles me less than this child ; she 
never will leave me ; if I say to her, Thou art quite 
frozen, go and warm thyself in the house, she answers 
me, Alas ! mamma, if 1 leave you, you'll certainly fall ill 
again !" 

" Another time, being at Marly, I went to see, in the 
groves of that magnificent park, that charming group of 
children who are feeding with vine leaves and grapes a 
goat which seems to be playing with them. Near this 
spot is an open summer-house, where Louis XV., on 
iine days, used sometimes to take refreshment. As it 
was showery weather, I went to take shelter for a few- 
minutes. I found there three children, who were much 
more interesting than children of marble. They were 
two little girls, very pretty, and very busily employed 
in picking up, all round the summer-house, dry sticks, 
which they put into a sort of wallet which was lying 
upon the king's table, while a little ill-clothed, thin boy, 
was devouring a bit of bread in one corner of the room. 
I asked the tallest of the children, who appeared to be 
between eight and nine years old, what she meant to do 
with the wood which she was gathering together witji 
so much eagerness. She answered, ' Sir, you see that 
little boy, he is very unhappy. He has a mother-in-law' 
(Why always a mother-in-laiv ?) ' He has a mother-in- 
law, who sends him all day long to look for wood ; 
when he does not bring any home, he is beaten ; when 
he has got any,-the Swiss who stands at the entrance 
of the park takes it all away from him, and keeps it for 
himself. The boy is almost starved with hunger, and 
we have given him our breakfast.' After having said 
tliese words, she and her companion finished filling the 
little wallet, packed it upon the boy's shoulders, and 
r.in before their unfortunate friend, to see that he might 
pass in safety." 

We have read these three anecdotes to several chil- 
dren, and have found that the active friends of the little 
v/ood-cutter were the most admired. It is probable, 
that among children who have been much praised for 
expressions of sensibility, tiie young lady who wept s(» 
bitterly at the playhouse would be preferred ; affection- 



SYMPATHY AND SENSIBILITY. 223 

ate children will like the little girl who stood, purple 
with cold, beside her sick mother ; but if they have been 
well educated, they will probably express some surprise 
at her motionless attitude; they will ask why she did 
not try to help her mother to weed the bed of sorrel. 

It requires much skill and delicacy in our conduct 
towards children, to preserve a proper medium between 
the indulging and the repressing of their sensibility. 
We are cruel towards them when we suspect their gen- 
uine expressions of affection ; nothing hurts the temper 
of a generous child more than this species of injustice. 
Receive his expressions of kindness and gratitude with 
cold reserve, or a look that implies a doubt of his truth, 
and you give him so much pain, that you not only re- 
press, but destroy his affectionate feelings. On the con- 
trary, if you appear touched and delighted by his ca- 
resses, from the hope of pleasing, he will be naturally 
inclined to repeat such demonstrations of sensibility : 
this repetition should be gently discouraged, lest it 
should lead to affectation. At the same time, though 
we take this precaution, we should consider, that chil- 
dren are not early sensible that affectation is either 
ridiculous or disgusting ; they are not conscious of 
doing any thing wrong by repeating what they have 
once perceived to be agreeable in their own, or in the 
manners of others. They frequently imitate, without 
any idea that imitation is displeasing; their object, as 
Locke observes, is to please by affectation; they only 
mistake the means: we should rectify this mistake 
without treating it as a crime. 

A little girl of five years stood beside her mother, ob- 
serving the distribution of a dish of strawberries, the 
first strawberries of the year; and seeing a number of 
people busily helping and being helped to cream and 
sugar, said, in a low voice, not meant to attract atten- 
tion, " I like to see people helping one another." Had 
the child, at this instant, been praised for this natural 
expression of sympathy, the pleasure of praise would 
have been immediately substituted in her mind, instead 
of the feeling of benevolence, which was in itself suffi- 
ciently agreeable ; and, perhaps, from a desire to please, 
she would, upon the next favourable occasion, have re- 
peated the same sentiment; this we should immediately 
call affectation ; but how could the child foresee, that 
the repetition of .what we formerly liked would be of- 



224 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

fensive? We should not first extol sympathy, and then 
disdain affectation ; our encomiums frequently produce 
the faults by which we are disgusted. Sensibihty and 
sympathy, when they have proper objects and full em- 
ployment, do not look for applause ; they are sufficiently 
happy in their own enjoyments. Those who have at- 
tempted to teach children must have observed, that 
sympathy is immediately connected with all the imita- 
tive arts ; the nature of this connexion, more especially 
in poetry and painting, has been pointed out with inge- 
nuity and eloquence by those* whose excellence in 
these arts entitles their theories to our prudent attention. 
We shall not attempt to repeat ; we refer to their obser- 
vations. Sufficient occupation for sympathy may be 
found by cultivating the talents of young people. 

Without repeating here what has been said in many 
other places, it may be necessary to remind all who are 
concerned in female education, that peculiar caution is 
necessary to manage female sensibility : to make, what 
is called the heart, a source of permanent pleasure, we 
must cultivate the reasoning powers at the same time 
that we repress the enthusiasm o{ fine feeling. Women, 
from their situation and duties in society, are called 
upon rather for the daily exercise of quiet domestic vir- 
tues, than for those splendid acts of generosity, or those 
exaggerated expressions of tenderness, which are the 
characteristics of heroines in romance. Sentimental 
authors, who paint with enchanting colours all the 
graces and all the virtues in happy union, teach us to 
expect that this union should be indissoluble. After- 
ward, from the natural influence of association, we ex- 
pect in real life to meet with virtue when we see grace ; 
and we are disappointed, almost disgusted, when we 
find virtue unadorned. This false association has a 
double effect upon the conduct of women ; it prepares 
them to be pleased, and it excites them to endeavour to 
please by adventitious charms, rather than by those 
qualities which merit esteem. Women who have been 
much addicted to common novel-reading, are always 
acting in imitation of some Jemima, or Almeria, who 
never existed . and tliey perpetually mistake plain Will- 
iam and Thomas for " My Beverly /" They have an- 

'- Sir .Toshua Rejniolds's Discourses. Dr. Darwin's Critical Inter- 
ludes in the Botanic Garden, and his chapter on Sympathy and Imi- 
tation in Zoonomia. 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 225 

Other peculiar misfortune ; they require continual great 
emotions to keep them in tolerable humour with them- 
selves ; they must have tears in their eyes, or they are 
apprehensive that their hearts are growing- hard. They 
have accustomed themselves to such violent stimulus, 
that they cannot endure the languor to which they are 
subject in the intervals of delirium. Pink appears pale 
to the eye that is used to scarlet; and common food is 
insipid to the taste which has been vitiated by the high 
seasonings of art. 

A celebrated French actress, in the wane of her 
charms, and who, for that reason, began to feel weary 
of the world, exclaimed, while she was recounting what 
she had suffered from a faithless lover, " Ah ! c'etoit le 
bon temps, j'etois bien malheureuse !"* 

The happy age in which women can, with any grace 
or effect, be romantically wretched, is, even with the 
beautiful, but a short season of felicity. The sentimen- 
tal sorrows of any female mourner, of more than thirty 
years standing, command but little sympathy and less 
admiration ; and what other consolations are suited to 
sentimental sorrows ! 

Women who cultivate their reasoning powers, and 
who acquire tastes for science and literature, find suffi- 
cient variety in life, and do not require the stimulus of 
dissipation or of romance. Their sympathy and sensi- 
bihty are engrossed by proper objects, and connected 
with habits of useful exertion ; they usually feel the 
affection which others profess, and actually enjoy the 
happiness which others describe. 



CHAPTER XI. 

ON VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 

We shall not weary the reader by any commonplace 
declamations upon these moral topics. No great subt- 
lety of distinction is requisite to mark the differences 
between vanity and pride, since those differences have 

^ D'Alembert. 
K3 



226 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

been pointed out by every moralist who has hoped to 
please mankind by an accurate delineation of the fail- 
ings of human nature. ^\ hatever distinctions exist, or 
may be supposed to exist, between the characters in 
which pride or vanity predominates, it will readily be 
allowed that there is one thing in which they both agree 
— they both receive pleasure from the approbation of 
others, and from their own. We are disgusted with the 
vain man, when he intemperately indulges in praise of 
himself, Iiowever justly he may be entitled to that praise, 
because he offends against those manners which we 
JTiave been accustomed to think polite, and he claims 
from us a greater portion of sympathy than we can pos- 
sibly afford to give him. We are not, however, pleased 
by the negligence with which the proud man treats us ; 
we do not like to see that he can exist in independent 
happiness, satisfied with a cool internal sense of his own 
merits ; he loses our sympathy, because he does not 
j.ppear to value it. 

' if we could give our pupils exactly the character we 
wish, what degrees of vanity and pride should we desire 
■;i>em to have, and how sliould we regulate these passions 1 
fthould we not desire that their ambition to excel might 
i'€ sufficient to produce the greatest possible exertions, 
directed to the best possible objects ; that their opinion 
of themselves should be strictly just, and should never 
t*e expressed in such a manner as to offend against pro- 
priety, or so as to forfeit the sympathy of mankind 1 
As to the degree of pleasure which they should feel 
from their secret reflections upon their own meritorious 
conduct, we should certainly desire this to be as lasting 
and as exquisite as possible. A considerable portion 
of the happiness of life arises from the sense of self- 
approbation ; we should, therefore, secure this gratifica- 
tion in its utmost perfection. We must observe, that 
TiOwever independent the proud man imagines himself 
to be of the opinions of all around him, he must form his 
judgment of his own merits from some standard of com- 
uarison, by some laws drawn from observation of what 
mankind in general, or those whom he particularly es- 
teems, think wise or amiable. He nmst begin then in 
the same manner with the vain man, whom he despises, 
by collecting the suffrages of others ; if he selects, with 
perfect wisdom, the opinions which are most just, he 
forms his character upon excellent principles ; and the 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 227 

more steadily he abides by his first views, the more he 
commands and obtains respect. But if, unfortunatel}-, 
he makes a mistake at first, his obstinacy in error is not 
to be easily corrected, for he is not aff'ected by the gen- 
eral voice of disapprobation, nor by the partial loss of the 
common pleasures of sympathy. The vain man, on the 
contrary, is in danger, let him form his first notions of 
right and wrong ever so justl3^ of changing them when 
he happens to be in society with any persons who do 
not agree with him in their moral opinions, or who re- 
fuse him that applause which supports his own feeble 
self-approbation. We nmst, in education, endeavour to 
guard against these opposite dangers ; we must enlighten 
the understanding, to give our pupils the power of form- 
ing their rules of conduct rightly, and we must give them 
sufficient strength of mind to abide by the principles 
which they have formed. When we first praise chil- 
dren, we must be careful to associate pleasure with 
those things which are really deserving of approbation. 
If we praise them for beauty, or for any happy expres- 
sions which entertain us, but which entertain us merely 
as the sprightly nonsense of childhood, we create vanity 
in the minds of our pupils ; we give tliem false ideas 
of merit; and, if we excite them to exertions, they are 
not exertions directed to any valuable objects. Praise 
is a strong stimulus to industry if it be properly man- 
aged ; but if we give it in too large and lavish quantities 
early in life, we shall soon find that it loses its effect, 
and yet that the patient languishes for want of the ex- 
citation which custom has rendered almost essential to 
his existence. We say the patieyit, for this mental lan- 
guor may be considered entirely as a disease. For its 
cure see the second volume of Zoonomia, under the ar- 
ticle Vanity. 

Children who are habituated to the daily and hourly 
food of praise, continually require this sustenance un- 
less they are attended to ; but we may gradually break 
bad habits. It is said that some animals can supply 
themselves at a single draught with what will quench 
their thirst for many days. The human animal may, 
perhaps, by education, be taught similar foresight 
and abstinence in the management of his thirst for 
flattery. Young people who live with j)ersons that 
seldom bestow praise, do not expect that stimulus ; and 
they are content if they discover by certain signs, either 



228 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

in the countenance, manner, or tone of voice, of those 
whom they wish to please, that they are tolerably well 
satisfied. It is of little consequence by what language 
approbation is conveyed, whether by w^ords, or looks, or 
by that silence which speaks with so much eloquence ; 
but it is of great importance that our pupils should set a 
high value upon the expressions of our approbation. 
They will value it in proportion to their esteem and 
their affection for us ; we include in the word esteem^ a 
belief in our justice and in our discernment. Expres- 
sions of affection, associated with praise, not only in- 
crease the pleasure, but they alter the nature of that 
pleasure ; and if they gratify vanity, they at the same 
time excite some of the best feelings of the heart. The 
selfishness of vanity is corrected by this association ; 
and the two pleasures of sympathy and self-compla- 
cency should never, when we can avoid it, be sepa- 
rated. 

Children who are well educated, and who have ac- 
quired an habitual desire for the approbation of their 
friends, may continue absolutely indifferent to the praise 
of strangers, or of common acquaintance ; nor is it prob- 
able that this indifference should suddenly be conquered, 
because the greatest part of the pleasure of praise in 
their mind depends upon the esteem and affection which 
they feel for the persons by whom it is bestowed. In- 
stead of desiring that our pupils should entirely repress, 
in the company of their own fatnily, the pleasure which 
they feel from the praise that is given to them by their 
friends, we should rather indulge them in this natural 
expansion of mind ; we should rather permit their youth- 
ful vanity to display itself openly to those whom they 
most love and esteem, than drive them, by unreasonable 
severity, and a cold refusal of sympathy, into the so- 
ciety of less rigid observers. Those who have an aver- 
sion to vanity will not easily bear with its uncultivated 
intemperance of tongue ; but they should consider that 
much of what disgusts them is owing to the simplicity 
of childhood, which must be allowed time to learn that 
respect for the feelings of others which teaches us to 
restrain our own : but we must not be in haste to re- 
strain, lest we teach hypocrisy instead of strength of 
mind or real humility. If we expect that children 
.should excel, and should not know that they excel, we 
expect impossibilities ; we expect, at the same time, in- 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 229 

telligence and stupidity. If we desire that they should 
be excited by praise, and that, at the same time, they 
should feel no pleasure in the applause which they have 
earned, we desire things that are incompatible. If we 
encourage children to be frank and sincere, and yet, at 
the same time, reprove them whenever they naturally 
express their opinions of themselves, or the pleasurable 
feelings of self-approbation, we shall counteract our 
own wishes. Instead of hastily blaming children for 
the sincere and simple expression of their self-compla- 
cency, or of their desire for the approbation of others, 
we should gradually point out to them the truth — that 
those who refrain from that display of their own per- 
fections which we call vanity, in fact are well repaid for 
the constraint which they put upon themselves by the 
superior degree of respect and sympathy which they 
obtain ; that vain people effectually counteract their own 
wishes, and meet with contempt instead of admiration. 
By appealing constantly, when we praise, to the judg- 
ment of the pupils themselves, we shall at once teach 
them the habit of rejudging flattery, and substitute, by 
insensible degrees, patient, steady confidence in them- 
selves, for the wavering, weak impatience of vanity. 
In proportion as any one's confidence in himself in- 
creases, his anxiety for the applause of others dimin- 
ishes : people are very seldom vain of any accomplish- 
ments in which they obviously excel, but they frequently 
continue to be vain of those which are doubtful. Where 
mankind have not confirmed their own judgment, they 
are restless, and continually aim either at convincing 
others or themselves that they are in the right. Ho- 
garth, who invented a new and original manner of satir- 
ising the follies of mankind, was not vain of his talent, 
but was extremely vain of his historical paintings, which 
were indifferent performances. Men of acknowledged 
literary talents are seldom fond of amateurs ; but if they 
are but half satisfied of their own superiority, they col- 
lect the tribute of applause with avidity, and without 
discrimination or delicacy. V^oltaire has been reproached 
with treating strangers rudely who went to Ferney to 
see and admire a philosopher as a prodigy. Voltaire 
valued his time more than he did this vulgar admiration; 
his visiters, whose understanding had not gone through 
exactly the same process, — who had not, probably, been 
satisfied with public applause, and who set, perhaps, a 



230 PRACTICAL KDUCATION. 

considerable value upon their own praise, could not 
comprehend this appearance of indifference to admira- 
tion in Voltaire, especially when it was well known that 
he was not insensible of fame. He was, at an advanced 
age, exquisitely anxious about the fate of one of his 
tragedies ; and a public coronation at the theatre at 
Paris had power to inebriate him at eighty-four. Those 
who have exhausted the stimulus of wine may yet be 
intoxicated by opium. The voice of numbers appears to 
be sometimes necessary to give delight to those who 
have been fatigued with the praise of individuals : but 
this taste for acclamation is extremely dangerous. A 
multitude of good judges seldom meet together. 

By a slight difference in their manner of reasoning, 
two men of abilities, who set out with the same desire 
for fame, may acquire different habits of pride or of van- 
it)'' ; the one may value the number, the other may ap- 
preciate the judgment of his admirers. There is some- 
thing not only more wise, but more elevated, in this 
latter species of select triumph ; the noise is jiot so 
great; the music is better. " If 1 listened to the music 
of praise," says an historian, who obviously was not in- 
sensible to its charms, " I was more seriously satisfied 
with the approbation of my judges. The candour of 
Dr. Robertson embraced his disciple. A letter from Mr. 
Hume overpaid the labour of ten years."* Surely no 
one can be displeased with this last generous exjjres- 
sion of enthusiasm ; we are not so well satisfied with 
Buffon, when he ostentatiously displays the epistles of a 
prince and an empress. | 

Perhaps, by pointing out at proper opportunities the 
difference in our feelings with respect to vulgar and re- 
fined vanity, we might make a useful impression upon 
those who have yet their habits to form. The conver- 
sion of vanity into pride is not so difficult a process as 
those, who have not analyzed both, might, from the 
striking difference of their appearance, imagine. By 
the opposite tendencies of education, opposite charac- 
ters from the same original dispositions are produced. 
Cicero, had he been early taught to despise the applause 

* Gibbon. Meinoiis of his T.iff and Writinc^s. — Perhaps Gibbon 
had this excello*)t lino of Mrs. Barbaulds in his nieaiorj' ; ^ 
" And i)ay a Hfe of hardships with a line." 
t See Peltier's state of Pans in the years 1795 and 1796. 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 231 

of the multitude, would have turned away like the proud 
philosopher, who asked his friends what absurdity he 
had uttered, when he heard the populace loud in accla- 
mations of his speech ; and the cynic whose vanity was 
seen through the holes of his cloak, might, perhaps, 
by a slight difference in his education, have been ren- 
dered ambitious of the Macedonian purple. 

In attempting to convert vanity into pride, we must 
begin by exercising the vain patient in forbearance of 
present pleasure ; it is not enough to ccnvince his un- 
derstandmg that the advantages of proud humility are 
great ; he may be perfectly sensible of this, and may 
yet have so little command over himself, that his loqua- 
cious vanity may get the better, from hour to hour, of 
his better judgment. Habits are not to be instantane- 
ously conquered by reason ; if we do not keep this fact 
in our remembrance, we shall be frequently disappointed 
in education; and we shall, perhaps, end by thinking 
that reason can do nothing, if*we begin by thmking that 
she can do every thing. We must not expect that a 
vain child should suddenly break and forget all his past 
associations; but we may, by a little early attention, 
prevent much of the trouble of curing, or converting, 
the disease of vanity. 

When children first begin to learn accomplishments, 
or to apply themselves to literature, those who instruct 
are apt to encourage them with too large a portion of 
praise : the smallest quantity of stimulus that can produce 
the exertion we desire, shovld be used ; if we use more, we 
waste our power, and injure our pupil. As soon as 
habit has made any exertion familiar, and consequently 
easy, we may withdraw the original excitation, and the 
exertion will still continue. In learning, for instance, 
a new language, at first, while tlie pupil is in the midst 
of the difficulties of regular and irregular verbs, and 
when, in translation, a dictionary is wanted at everjr 
moment, the occupation itself cannot be very agreea- 
ble ; but we are excited by the hope that our labour will 
every day diminish, and that we shall at last enjoy the 
entertainment of reading useful and agreeable books. 
Children, who have not learned by experience the pleas- 
ures of hterature, cannot feel this hope as strongly as 
we do ; we, therefore, excite them by praise ; but by 
degrees they begin to feel the pleasure of success and 
occupation; when these are felt, we may and ought to 



232 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

withdraw the unnecessary excitements of praise. If 
we continue, we mislead the child's mind ; and, while we 
deprive him of his natural reward, we give him a facti- 
tious taste. When any moral habit is to be acquired, 
or when we wish that our pupil should cure himself of 
any fault, we must employ at first strong excitement, 
and reward with warmth and eloquence of approbation ; 
when the fault is conquered, when the virtue is acquired, 
the extraordinary excitement should be withdrawn, and 
all this should not be done with an air of mystery and 
artifice ; the child should know all that we do, and why 
we do it ; the sooner he learns how his own nund is 
managed, the better — the sooner he will assist in his 
own education. 

Everybody must have observed, that languor of mind 
succeeds to the intoxication of vanity ; if we can avoid 
the intoxication, we shall avoid the languor. Common 
sayings often imply those sensible observations which 
philosophers, when they theorize only, express in other 
words. We frequently hear it said to a child, " Praise 
spoils you ; my praise did you harm ; you can't bear 
praise well ; you grow conceited ; you become idle ; you 
are good for nothing, because you have been too much 
flattered." All these expressions show that the conse- 
quences of over-stimulating the mind by praise have 
been vaguely taken notice of in education ; but no gen- 
eral rules have been deduced from these observations. 
With children of different habits and temperaments, the 
same degree of excitement acts differently, so that it is 
scarcely possible to fix upon any positive quantity fit 
for all dispositions — the quantity must be relative ; but 
we may, perhaps, fix upon a criterion by which, in most 
cases, the proportion may be ascertained. The golden 
rule,* which an eminent physician has given to the med- 
ical world, for ascertaining the necessary and useful 
quantity of stimulus for weak and feverish patients, 
may, with advantage, be applied in education. When- 
ever praise produces the intoxication of vanity, it is 
hurtful ; whenever the appearances of vanity diminish 
in consequence of praise, we may be satisfied that it 
does good, that it increases the pupil's confidence in 
himself, and his strength of mind. We repeat, that per- 
sons who have confidence in themselves may be proud, 

* Sec Zoonora'a, vol. i. p. 99. 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 233 

but are never vain ; that vanity cannot support herself 
without the concurring flattery of others ; pride is sat- 
isfied with his own approbation. In the education of 
children who are more inclined to pride than to vanity, 
we must present large objects to the understanding, and 
large motives must be used to excite voluntary exer- 
tion. If the understanding of proud people be not early 
cultivated, they frequently fix upon some false ideas of 
honour or dignity, to which they are resolute martyrs 
through life. Thus the high-born Spaniards, if we may 
be allowed to reason from the imperfect history of na- 
tional character, — the Spaniards, who associate the ideas 
of dignity and indolence, would rather submit to the evils 
of poverty than to the imaginary disgrace of working 
for their bread. Volney, and the Baron de Tott, give 
us some curious instances of the pride of the Turks, 
which prevents them from being taught any useful arts 
by foreigners. To show how early associations are 
formed and supported by pride, we need but recollect 
the anecdote of the child mentioned by De Tott.* The 
Baron de I'ott bought a pretty toy for a present for a 
little Turkish friend, but the child was too proud to seem 
pleased with the toy ; the child's grandfather came into 
the room, saw, and was delighted with the toy, sat down 
on the carpet, and played with it until he broke it. We 
like the second childhood of the grandfather better than 
the premature old age of the grandson. 

The self-command which the fear of disgrace ensures, 
can produce either great virtues or great vices. Re- 
venge and generosity are, it is said, to be found in their 
highest state among nations and individuals character- 
ized by pride. The early objects which are associated 
with the idea of honour in the mind, are of great conse- 
quence ; but it is yet of more consequence to teach 
proud minds early to bend to the power of reason, or 
rather to glory in being governed by reason. They 
should be instructed, that the only possible means of 
maintaining their opinions among persons of sense, is 
to support them by unanswerable arguments. They 
should be" taught that, to secure respect, they must de- 
serve it ; and their self-denial or self-command, should 
never obtain that tacit admiration which they most value, 
except where it is exerted for useful and rational pur- 

* See De Tott's Memoirs, p. 138, a note. 



234 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

poses. The constant custom of appealing, in the last 
resort, to their own judgment, which distinguishes the 
proud from the vain, makes it pecuHarly necessary that 
the judgment, to which so much is trusted, should be 
highly cultivated. A vain man may be tolerably well 
conducted in life by a sensible friend ; a proud man 
ought to be able to conduct himself perfectly well, be- 
cause he will not accept of any assistance. It seems 
that some proud people confine their benevolent virtues 
within a smaller sphere than others ; they value only 
their own relations, their friends, their country, or what- 
ever is connected with themselves. This species of 
pride may be corrected by the same means which are 
used to increase sympathy.* Those who, eitiier from 
temperament, example, or accidental circumstances, 
have acquired the habit of repressing and commanding 
their emotions, must be carefully distinguished from the 
selfish and insensible. In the present times, when the 
affectation of sensibility is to be dreaded, we should 
rather encourage that species of pride which disdains 
to display the affections of the heart. " You Romans 
triumph over your tears, and call it virtue ; I triumph 
in my tears," says Caractacus : his tears were respect- 
able, but in general, the Roman triumph would command 
the most sympathy. 

Some people attribute to pride all expressions of con- 
fidence in one's self: these maybe offensive to common 
society, but they are sometimes powerful over the hu- 
man mind, and where they are genuine, mark somewhat 
superior in character. Much of^ the effect of Lord Chat- 
ham's eloquence, much of his transcendent influence in 
public, must be attributed to the confidence which he 
showed in his own superiority. " I trample upon im- 
possibilities !" was an exclamation which no inferior 
mind would dare to make. Would the House of Com- 
mons have permitted any one but Lord Chatham to an- 
swer an oration by, " Tell me, gentle shepherd, where 1" 
The danger of failing, the hazard that he runs of becom- 
ing ridiculous who verges upon the moral sublime, is 
taken into our account when we judge of the action, 
and we pay involuntary tribute to courage and success : 
but how miserable is the fate of the man who mistakes 
his own powers, and upon trial is unable to support his 

*■ Sec Sympathy. 



VANITY, PRIDE, AND AMBITION. 235 

assumed superiority ; mankind revenge themselves 
without mercy upon his ridiculous pride, eager to teach 
him the difference between insolence and magnanimit}'. 
Young people inclined to overrate their own talents, or 
to undervalue the abilities of others, should frequently 
have instances given to them from real life, of the mor- 
tifications and disgrace to wliich imprudent boasters 
expose themselves. Where they are able to demon- 
strate their own abilities, they run no risk in speaking 
with decent confidence ; but where their success de- 
pends, in any degree, either upon fortune or opinion, 
they should never run the hazard of presumption. Mod- 
esty prepossesses mankind in favour of its possessor, 
and has the advantage of being both graceful and safe : 
this was perfectly understood by the crafty Ulysses, 
v/ho neither raised his eyes nor stretched his sceptred 
hand " when he first rose to speak." We do not, how- 
ever, recommend this artificial modesty ; its trick is soon 
discovered, and its sameness of dissimulation presently 
disgusts. Prudence should prevent young people from 
hazardous boasting ; and good-nature and good sense, 
which constitute real politeness, will restrain them from 
obtruding their merits to the mortification of their com- 
panions : but we do not expect from them total igno- 
rance of their own comparative merit. The alTectation 
of humility, when carried to the extreme, to which all 
affectation is liable to be carried, appears full as ridicu- 
lous, as troublesome, and as offensive as an}^ of the graces 
of vanity or the airs of pride. Young people are cured 
of presumption by mixing with society, but they are not 
so easily cured of any species of affectation. 

In the chapter on female accomplishments, we have 
endeavoured to point out, that the enlargement of un- 
derstanding in the fair sex which must result from their 
increasing knowledge, will necessarily correct the fenn- 
nine foibles of vanity and affectation. 

Strong, prophetic, eloquent praise, like that which 
the great Lord Chatham bestowed on his son, would 
rather ins[)ire. in a generous soul, noble emulation, than 
paltry vanity. " On this boy," said he, laying his hand 
upon his son's head, " descends my mantle, with a 
double portion of my spirit !" Philip's praise of his son 
Alexander, when the boy rode the unmanageable horse.* 

* See Plutarch. 



236 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

is another instance of the kind of praise capable of 
exciting ambition. 

As to ambition, we must decide what species of am- 
bition we mean, before we can determine whether it 
ought to be encouraged or repressed ; whether it should 
be classed among virtues or vices ; that is to say, 
whether it adds to the happiness or misery of human 
creatures. " The inordinate desire of fame," which 
often destroys the lives of millions when it is con- 
nected with ideas of military enthusiasm, is justly 
classed among the ^^ diseases of volition :'''' for its descrip- 
tion and cure we refer to Zoonomia, vol. ii. Achilles 
will there appear to his admirers, perhaps, in a new light. 

The ambition to rise in the world usually implies a 
mean, sordid desire of riches, or what are called hon- 
ours, to be obtained by the common arts of political 
intrigue, by cabal to win popular favour, or by address 
to conciliate the patronage of the great. The expe- 
rience of those who have been governed during their 
lives by this passion, if passion it may be called, does 
not show that it can confer much happiness, either in 
the pursuit or attainment of its objects. See Bubb 
Doddington's Diary, a most useful book; a journal of 
the petty anxieties, and constant dependance, to which 
an ambitious courtier is necessarily subjected. See 
also Mirabeau's " Secret History of the Court of Ber- 
lin," for a picture of a man of great abilities degraded 
by the same species of low, unprincipled competition. 
We may find in these books, it is to be hoped, examples 
which will strike young and generous minds, and which 
may inspire them with contempt for the objects and the 
means of vulgar ambition. There is a more noble am- 
bition, by which the enthusiastic youth, perfect in the 
theory of all the virtues, and warm with yet unextin- 
guished benevolence, is apt to be seized ; his heart 
beats with the hope of immortalizing himself by noble 
actions ; he forms extensive plans for the improvement 
and the happiness of his fellow-creatures ; he feels the 
want of power to carry these into effect ; power be- 
comes the object of his wishes. In the pursuit, in the 
attainment of this object, how are his feelings changed ! 
M. Necker, in the preface to his work on French 
finance,* paints, with much eloquence, and with an ap- 

* Necker sur rAdministration des Finances de la France, vol. i. p. 98. 



VANITY, PfilDE, AND AMBITION. 237 

pearance of perfect truth, the feelings of a man of virtue 
and genius, before and after the attainment of political 
power. The moment when a minister takes possession 
of his place, surrounded by crowds and congratulations, 
is well described ; and the succeeding moment, when 
clerks with immense portfolios enter, is a striking con- 
trast. Examples from romance can never have such a 
powerful effect upon the mind, as those which are taken 
from real life ; but in proportion to the just and lively- 
representation of situations and passions resembling 
reahty, fictions may convey useful moral lessons. In 
the Cyropaedia there is an admirable description of the 
day spent by the victorious Cyrus, giving audience to 
the unmanageable multitude, after the taking of Babylon 
had accomplished the fulness of his ambition.* 

It has been observed, that these examples of the in- 
sufficiency of the objects of ambition to happiness, sel- 
dom make any lasting impression upon the minds of the 
ambitious. This may arise from two causes ; from the 
reasoning faculty's not having been sufficiently culti- 
vated, or from the habits of ambition being formed be- 
fore proper examples are presented to the judgment for 
comparison. Some ambitious people, when they reason 
coolly, feel and acknowledge the folly of their pursuits ; 
but still, from the force of habit, they act immediately 
in obedience to the motives which they condemn : 
others, who have never been accustomed to reason 
firmly, believe themselves to be in the right in the 
choice of their objects ; and they cannot comprehend 
the arguments which are used by those who have not 
the same way of thinking as themselves. If we fairly 
place facts before young people who have been ha- 
bituated to reason, and who have not yet been inspired 
with the passion or enslaved by the habits of vulgar 
ambition, it is probable that they will not be easily 
effaced from the memory, and that they will influence 
the conduct through life. 

It sometimes happens to men of a sound' understand- 
ing and a philosophic turn of mind, that their ambition 
decreases with their experience. They begin with 
some ardour, perhaps, an ambitious pursuit ; but by de- 
grees they find the pleasure of the occupation sufficient 
without the fame, which was their original object. This 

* Cyropaedia, vol. ii. page 303. 



238 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

is the same process which we have observed in the 
minds of children with respect to the pleasures of litera- 
ture, and the taste for sugarplums. 

Happy the child who can be taught to improve him- 
self without the stimulus of sweetmeats ! Happy the 
man who can preserve activity without the excitements 
of ambition ! 



CHAPTER Xn. 



The first books which are now usually put into the 
hands of a child, are Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons : they are 
by far the best books of the kind that have ever ap- 
peared ; those only who know the difficulty and the im- 
portance of such compositions in education, can sincerely 
rejoice, that the admirable talents of such a writer have 
been employed in such a work. We shall not apologize 
for offering a few remarks on some passages in these 
little books, because we are convinced that we shall 
not offend. 

Lessons for Children from three to four years old, 
should, we think, have been lessons for children from 
four to five years old ; few read, or ought to read, before 
that age. 

" Charles shall have a pretty new lesson." 

In this sentence the words pretty and new are asso- 
ciated ; but they represent ideas which ought to be kept 
separate in the mind of a child. The love of novelty is 
cherished in the minds of children by the common ex- 
pressions that we use to engage them to do what we 
desire. " You shall have a new whip, a new hat," are 
improper modes of expression to a child. We have 
seen a boy who had literally twenty new whips in one 
year, and we were present when his father, to comfort 
him when he was in pain, went out to buy him a neio 
whip, though he had two or three scattered about the 
room. 

The description, in the first part of Mrs. Barbauld's 
Lessons, of the naughty boy who tormented the robin, 



BOOKS. 239 

and who was aflerward supposed to be eaten by bears, 
is more objectionable than any in the book : the idea 
of kilhng is in itself very complex, and, if explained, 
serves only to excite terror ; and how can a child be 
made to comprehend why a cat should catch mice and 
not kill birds ; or why should this species of honesty be 
expected from an animal of prey 1 

" I want my dinner." 

Does Charles take it for granted, that what he eats is 
his own, and that he mast have his dinner? These and 
similar expressions are words of course ; but young 
children should not be allowed to use them : if they are 
permitted to assume the tone of command, the feelings 
of impatience and ill-temper quickly follow, and children 
become the little tyrants of a family. Property is a 
word of which young people have general ideas, and 
they may, with very little trouble, be prevented from 
claiming things to which they have no right. Mrs. 
Barbauld has judiciously chosen to introduce a little 
boy's daily history in these books ; all children are ex- 
tremely interested for Charles, and they are very apt to 
expect^ that every thing which happens to him is to 
happen to them ; and they believe that every thing he 
does is right ; therefore, his biographer should, in 
another edition, revise any of his expressions which 
may mislead the future tribe of his little imitators. 

" Maid, come and dress Charles." 

After what we have already said with respect to ser- 
vants, we need only observe, that this sentence for 
Charles should not be read by a child; and that in 
which the maid is said to bring home a gun, &c., it is 
easy to strike a pencil line across. All the passages 
which might have been advantageously omitted in these 
excellent little books, have been carefully obliterated 
before they were put into the hands of children, by a 
mother who knew the danger of early false associ- 
ations. 

" Little boys don't eat butter." 

" Nobody wears a hat in the house." 

This is a very common method of speaking, but it 
certainly is not proper towards children. Affirmative 
sentences should always express real facts. Charles 
must know that some little boys do eat butter ; and that 
some people wear their hats in their houses. This 
mode of expression, " Nobody does that !" — " Ever}'- 



240 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

body does this !" lays the foundation for prejudice in 
the' mind. This is the language of fashion, which, 
more than conscience, makes cowards of us all. 

" I want some wine." 

Would it not be better to tell Charles, in reply to this 
speech, that wine is not good for him, than to say, 
" Wine for litile boys ! I never heard of such a thing!" 
If Charles were to be ill, and it should be necessary to 
give him wine ; or were he to see another child drink it, 
he would lose confidence in what was said to him. We 
should be very careful of our words, if we expect our 
pupils to have confidence in us ; and if they have not, 
we need not attempt to educate them. 

" The moon shines at night, when the sun has gone 
to bed." 

When the sun is out of sight would be more correct, 
though not so pleasing, perhaps, to the young reader. 
It is very proper to teach a child, that when the sun dis- 
appears, when the sun is below the horizon, it is the 
time when most animals go to rest ; but we should not 
do this by giving so false an idea, as that the sun is gone 
to bed. Every thing relative to the system of the uni- 
verse is above the comprehension of a child ; we should, 
therefore, be careful to prevent his forming erroneous 
opinions. We should wait for a riper period of his un- 
derstanding before we attempt positive instruction upon 
abstract subjects. 

The enumeration of the months in the year, the days 
in the week, of metals, &c., forms excellent lessons for a 
child who is just beginning to learn to read. The clas- 
sification of animals into quadrupeds, bipeds, &c., is 
another useful specimen of the manner in which children 
should be taught to generalize their ideas. The pathetic 
description of the poor timid hare running from the hunt- 
ers, will leave an impression upon the young and humane 
heart, which may, perhaps, save the life of many a hare. 
The poetic beauty and eloquent simplicity of many of 
Mrs. BarbaukFs Lessons, cultivate the imagination of 
children and their taste, in the best possible manner. 

The description of the white swan, with her long 
arched neck, " winning her easy way" through the 
waters, is beautiful ; so is that of the nightingale singing 
upon her lone bush bj'^ moonlight. Poetic descriptions 
of real objects are well suited to children ; apostrophe 
and personification they understand ; but all allegoric 



BOOKS. 241 

poetry is difficult to manage for them, because they mis- 
take the poetic attributes for reality, and they acquire 
false and confused ideas. With regret, children close 
Mrs. Barbauld's little books, and parents become yet 
more sensible of their value, when they perceive that 
none can be found immediately to supply their place, or 
to continue the course of agreeable ideas v^^hich they 
have raised in the young pupil's imagination. 

"Evenings at Home" do not immediately join to 
Lessons for Children from three to four years old; and 
Ave know not where to find any books to fill the interval 
properly. The popular character of any book is easih- 
learned, and its general merit easily ascertained ; this 
may satisfy careless, indolent tutors, but a more minute 
investigation is necessary to parents who are anxious 
for the happiness of their family, or desirous to improve 
the art of education. Such parents will feel it to be 
their duty to look over every page of a book before it is 
trusted to their children ; it is an arduous task, but none 
can be too arduous for the enlightened energy of parental 
affection. We are acquainted with the mother of a 
family, who has never trusted any book to her children 
without having first examined it herself with the most 
scrupulous attention ; her care has been repaid with that 
success in education which such care can alone ensure. 
We have several books before us marked by her pencil, 
and volumes which, having undergone some necessary 
operations by her scissors, would, in their mutilated 
state, shock the sensibility of a nice librarian. But 
shall the education of a family be sacrificed to the 
beauty of a page, or even to the binding of a book? 
Few books can safely be given to children without the 
previous use of the pen, the pencil, and the scissors. 
In the books which we have before us, in their corrected 
state, we see sometimes a few words blotted out ; some- 
times half a page, sometimes many pages are cut out. 
In turning over the leaves of "The Children's Friend," 
we perceive that the different ages at which different 
stories should be read, have been marked ; and we were 
surprised to meet with some stories marked for six 
years old and some for sixteen, in the same volume. 
We see that different stories have been marked with the 
initials of different names, by this cautious mother, who 
considered the temper and habits of her children, as 
svell as their ages. 

L 



242 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

As far as these notes refer peculiarly to her own 
family, they cannot be of use to the public ; but the 
principles which governed a judicious parent in her 
selection, must be capable of universal application. 

It may be laid down as a first principle, that we 
should preserve children from the knowledge of any 
vice or any folly, of which the idea has never yet 
entered their minds, and which they are not necessarily 
disposed to learn by early example. Children who have 
never lived with servants, who have never associated 
with ill-educated companions of their own age, and 
who, in their own family, have heard nothing but good 
conversation, and seen none but good examples, will, in 
their language, their manners, and their whole dispo- 
sition, be not only free from many of the faults common 
among children, but they will absolutely have no idea 
that there are such faults. The language of children 
who have heard no language but what is good, must be 
correct. On the contrary, children who hear a mixture 
of low and high vulgarity before their own habits are 
fixed, must, whenever they speak, continually blunder ; 
they have no rule to guide their judgment in their se- 
lection from the variety of dialects which they hear ; 
probably they may often be reproved for their mistakes, 
but these reproofs will be of no avail while the pupils 
continue to be puzzled between the example of the 
nursery and of the drawing-room. It will cost much 
time and pains to correct these defects, which might 
have been with little difficulty prevented. It is the 
same with other bad habits. Falsehood, caprice, dis- 
honesty, obstinacy, revenge, and all the train of vices 
which are the consequences of mistaken or neglected 
education, which are learned by bad example, and which 
are not inspired by nature, need scarcely be known to 
children whose minds have from their infancy been 
happily regulated. Such children should sedulously be 
kept from contagion. No books should be put into the 
hands of this happy class of children, but such as pre- 
sent the best models of virtue : there is no occasion to 
shock them with caricatures of vice. Such caricatures 
they will not even understand to be well drawn, because 
they are unacquainted with any thing like the originals. 
Exaniples to deter them from faults to which they have 
no propensity must be useless, and may be dangerous. 
For the same reason that a book written in bad language 



Books. 243 

should never be put into the hands of a child who speaks 
correctly ; a book, exhibiting instances of vice, siiould 
never be given to a child who thinks and acts correctly. 
The love of novelty and of imitation is so strong m 
children, that even for the pleasure of imitating charac- 
ters described in a book, or actions which strike them 
as singular, they often commit real faults. 

To this danger of catching faults by sympathy, chil- 
dren of the greatest simplicity are, perhaps, the most 
liable, because they least understand the nature and 
consequences of the actions which they imitate. 

During the age of imitation, children should not be 
exposed to the influence of any bad examples until their 
habits are formed, and until they have not only the 
sense to choose, but the fortitude to abide by, their own 
choice. It may be said, that " children must know that 
vice exists ; that, even among their own companions, 
there are some who have bad dispositions ; they cannot 
mix even in the society of children, without seeing ex- 
amples which they ought to be prepared to avoid." 

These remarks are just with regard to pupils who 
are intended for a public school, and no great nicety in 
the selection of their books is necessary ; but we are 
now speaking of children who are to be brought up in a 
private family. Why should they be prepared to mix 
in the society of children who have bad habits or bad 
dispositions 1 Children should not be educated for the 
society of children ; nor should they live in that society 
during their education. We must not expect from them 
premature prudence, and all the social virtues, before 
vi^e have taken any measures to produce these virtues, 
or this tardy prudence. In private education, there is 
little chance that one error should balance another ; the 
experience of the pupil is much confined ; the examples 
which he sees are not so numerous and various as to 
counteract each other. Nothing, therefore, must be 
expected from the counteracting influence of opposing 
causes ; nothing should be trusted to chance. Experi- 
ence must preserve one uniform tenor ; and examples 
must be selected with circumspection. The less chil- 
dren associate with companions of their own age, the 
less they know of the world ; the stronger their taste for 
literature ; the more forcible will be the impression that 
will be made upon them by the pictures of life, and the 
characters and sentiments which they meet with in 
L2 



244 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

books. Books for such children ought to be sifted by 
an academy* of enlightened parents. 

Without particular examples, the most obvious truths 
are not brought home to our business. We shall select 
a few examples from a work of high and deserved rep- 
utation, from a work which we much admire, " Ber- 
quin's Children's Friend." We do not mean to criticise 
this work as a literary production ; but simply to point 
out to parents, that, even in the best books for children, 
much must still be left to the judgment of the preceptor ; 
much in the choice of stories, and particular passage, 
suited to different pupils. « 

In " The Children's Friend," there are several stories 
well adapted to one class of children, but entirely unfit 
for another. In the story called the Hobgoblin, Antonia, 
a little girl, " who has been told a hundred foohsh stories 
by her maid, particularly one about a black-faced gob- 
Ini," is represented as making a lamentable outcry at 
the sight of a chimney-sweeper ; first she runs for 
refuge to the kitchen, the last place to which she should 
run ; then to the pantry ; thence she jumps out of the 
window, " half dead with terror," and, in the elegant 
language of the translator, almost splits her throat with 
crying out Help! Help ! — In a few minutes she discovers 
her error, is heartily ashamed, and " ever afterward 
Antonia was the first to laugh at silly stories, told by 
silly people, of hobgoblins and the like, to frighten 
her." 

For children who have had the misfortune to hear 
the hundred foolish stories of a foolish maid, this 
apparition of the chimney-sweeper is well managed ; 
though, perhaps, ridicule might not effect so sudden a 
cure hi all cases as it did in that of Antonia. By chil- 
dren who have not acquired terrors of the black-faced 
goblin, and who have not the habit of frequenting the 
kitchen and the pantry, this story should never be read. 

" The Uttle miss deceived by her maid," who takes 
her mamma's keys out of her drawers, and steals sugar 
and tea for her maid, that she may have the pleasure 
of playing with a cousin whom her mother had for- 
bidden her to see, is not an example that need be intro- 
duced into any well-regulated family. The picture of 
Amelia's misery is drawn by the hand of a master. 

* See Academie della Crusca. 



BOOKS. 245 

Terror and pity, we are told by the tragic poets, purify 
the mind ; but there are minds that do not require this 
species of purification. Powerful antidotes are neces- 
sary to combat powerful poisons ; but where no poison 
has been imbibed, are not antidotes more dangerous 
than useful ] 

The stories called " The Little Gamblers, Blind Man's 
Buff, and Honesty the best Policy," are stories which 
may do a great deal of good to bad children, but they 
should never be given to those of another description. 
The young gentlemen who cheat at cards, and who 
pocket silver fish, should have no admittance anywhere. 
It is not necessary to put children upon their guard 
against associates whom they are not likely to meet ; 
nor need we introduce The Vulgar and Mischievous 
Schoolboy to any but schoolboys. Martin, who throws 
squibs at people in the street, who fastens rabbits' 
tails behind their backs, who fishes for their wigs, 
who sticks up pins in his friends' chairs, who carries a 
hideous mask in his pocket to frighten little children, 
and who is himself frightened into repentance by a 
spectre with a speaking trumpet, is a very objectionable, 
though an excellent dramatic character. The part of 
the spectre is played by the groom ; this is ill-con- 
trived in a drama for children ; grooms should have 
nothing to do with their entertainments ; and Caesar, 
who is represented as a pleasing character, should not 
be supposed to make the postillion a party in his in- 
ventions. 

" A good heart compensates for many indiscretions,^^ is 
a dangerous title for a play for young people ; because 
many is an indefinite term ; and in settling how many, 
the calculations of parents and children may vary ma- 
terially. This little play is so charmingly written, 
the character of the imprudent and generous Frederick 
is so likely to excite imitation, that we must doubly re- 
gret his intimacy with the coachman, his running away 
from school, and drinking beer at an alehouse in a fair. 
The coachman is an excellent old man ; he is turned 
away for having let master Frederick mount his box, 
assume the whip, and overturn a handsome carriage. 
Frederick, touched with gratitude and compassion, gives 
the old man all his pocket-money, and sells a watch and 
some books to buy clothes for him. The motives of 
Frederick's conduct are excellent ; and, as they are mis- 



246 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

represented by a treacherous and hypocritical cousin, 
we sympathize more strongly with the hero of the piece ; 
and all his indiscretions appear, at least, amiable de- 
fects. A nice observer* of the human heart snys, that 
we are never inclined to cure ourselves of any defect 
which makes us agreeable. Frederick's real virtues 
will not, probably, excite imitation so much as his ima- 
ginary excellences. We should take the utmost care 
not to associate in the mind the ideas of imprudence 
and of generosity ; of hypocrisy and of prudence : on 
the contrary, it should be shown that prudence is 
necessary to real benevolence ; that no virtue is more 
useful, and consequently more respectable, than justice. 
These homely truths will never be attended to as the 
countercheck moral of an interesting story ; stories 
which require such morals, should, therefore, be 
avoided. 

It is to be hoped, that select parts of The Children's 
Friend,! translated by some able hand, will be published 
hereafter for the use of private families. Many of the 
stories to which we have ventured to object, are by no 
means unfit for schoolboys, to whom the characters 
which are most exceptionable cannot be new. The 
vulgarity of language which we have noticed, is not to 
be attributed to M. Berquin, but to his wretched trans- 
lator. L'Ami des Enfans is, in French, remarkably 
elegantly written. The Little Canary Bird, Little 
George, The Talkative Little Girl, The Four Seasons, 
and many others, are excellent both in point of style 
and dramatic effect ; they are exactly suited to the un- 
derstandings of children ; and they interest without any 
improbable events or unnatural characters. 

in fiction it is difficult to avoid giving children false 
ideas of virtue, and still more difficult to keep the dif- 
ferent virtues in their due proportions. This should be 
attended to with care in all books for young people ; 
nor should we sacrifice the understanding to tlie en- 
thusiasm of eloquence, or the affectation of sensibility. 
Without the habit of reasoning, the best dispositions 
can give us no solid security for happiness ; therefore, 
we should early cultivate the reasoning faculty, instead 
of always appealing to the imagination. By sentimental 

* Marmontel. " On ne se guerit pas d'un defaut qui plait." 
t We have heard that such a translation was begun. 



COOKS. 247 

persuasives, a child may be successfully governed for 
a time, but that time will be of short duration, and no 
power can continue the delusion long. 

In the dialogue upon this maxim, " that a competence 
is best," the reasoning of the father is not a match for 
that of the son ; by using less eloquence, the father 
might have made out his case much better. The boy 
sees that many people are richer than his father, and 
perceiving that their riches procure a great number of 
conveniences and comforts for them, h€ asks why his 
father, who is as good as these opulent people, should 
not also be as rich. His father tells him that he is rich, 
ihat he has a large garden, and a fine estate ; the boy 
asks to see it, and his father takes him to the top of a 
high hill, and, showing him an extensive prospect, says 
to him, " All this is my estate." Th« boy crossques- 
tions his father, and finds out that it is not his estate, 
but that he may enjoy the pleasure of looking at it ; that 
he can buy wood when he wants it for firing ; venison, 
without hunting the deer himself; fish, without fishing; 
und butter, without possessing all the cows that graze 
in the valley ; therefore he calls himself master of the 
woods, the deer, the herds, the huntsmen, and the la- 
bourers that he beholds. This is* poetic philosophy, 
but it is not sufficiently accurate for a child ; it would 
confound his ideas of property, and it would be imme- 
diately contradicted by his experience. The father's 
reasoning is perfectly good, and well adapted to his 
pupil's capacity, when he asks " whether he should 
not require a superfluous appetite to enjoy superfluous 
dishes at his meals." In returning from liis walk, the 
boy sees a mill that is out of repair, a meadow that is 
flooded, and a quantity of hay spoiled j he observes that 
the owners of these things must be sadly vexed by such 
accidents, and his father congratulates himself upon 
their not being his property. Here is a direct contra- 
diction ; for a few minutes before he had asserted that 
they belonged to him. Property is often the cause of 
much anxiety to its posses.sor ; but the question is, 
whether the pains or the pleasures of possessing it pre- 
dominate ; if this question could not be fully discussed, 
it should not be partially stated. To silence a child 
ill argument is easy, to convince him is difficult ; sophis- 

* See Hor. 2 Epist. lib. ii. 



248 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

try or wit should never be used to confound the under- 
standing. Reason has equal force from the lips of the 
giant and of the dwarf. 

These minute criticisms may appear invidious, but 
it is hoped that they will be considered only as illustra- 
tions of general principles ; illustrations necessary to 
our subject. We have chosen M. Berquin's work be- 
cause of its universal popularity ; probably all the 
examples which have been selected are in the recol- 
lection of most readers, or at least it is easy to refer to 
them, because The Children's Friend is to be found in 
every house where there are any children. The prin- 
ciples by which we have examined Berquin, may be 
applied to all books of the same class. Sandford and 
Merton, Madame de Silleri's Theatre of Education, and 
her Tales of the Castle, Madame de la File's Tales and 
Conversations, Mrs. Smith's Rural Walks, with a long 
list of other books for children, which have considerable 
merit, would deserve a separate analysis if literary crit- 
icism were our object. A critic once, with indefatigable 
illnature, picked out all the faults of a beautiful poem, 
and presented them to Apollo. The god ordered a 
bushel of his best Parnassian wheat to be carefully win- 
nowed, and he presented the critic with the chaff. Our 
wish is to separate the small portion of what is useless, 
from the excellent nutriment contained in the books we 
have mentioned. 

With respect to sentimental stories,* and books of 
mere entertainment, we must remark, that they should 
be sparingly used, especially in the education of girls. 
This species of reading cultivates what is called the 
heart prematurely ; lowers the tone of the mind, and 
induces indifference for those common pleasures and 
occupations which, however trivial in themselves, con- 
stitute by far the greatest portion of our daily happi- 
ness. Stories are the novels of childhood. We know, 
from common experience, the effects which are produced 
upon the female mind by immoderate novel-reading. To 
those who acquire this taste, every object becomes dis- 
gusting which is not in an attitude for poetic painting; 
a species of moral picturesque is sought for in every 
scene of life, and this is not always compatible with 
sound sense or with simple reality. Gainsborough's 

* See Sympathy and Sensibility. 



BOOKS. 249 

Country Girl, as it has been humorously* remarked, 
*' is a much more picturesque object than a girl neatly 
dressed in a clean white frock ; but for this reason, are 
ail 'children to go in rags ]" A tragedy heroine, weep- 
ing, swooning, dying, is a moral picturesque object ; but 
the frantic passions, which have the best effect upon 
the stage, might, when exhibited in domestic hfe, ap- 
pear to be drawn upon too large a scale to please. The 
difference between reality and fiction is so great, that 
those who copy from any thing but nature are contin- 
ually disposed to make mistakes in their conduct, which 
appear ludicrous to the impartial spectator. Pathos de- 
pends on such nice circumstances, that domestic, senti- 
mental distresses, are in a perilous situation ; the sym- 
pathy of their audience is not always in the power of 
the fair performers. Phrensy itself may be turned to 
farce. f " Enter the princess mad in white satin, and 
her attendant mad in white linen." 

Besides the danger of creating a romantic taste, there 
is reason to believe, that the species of reading to which 
we object has an effect directly opposite to what it is 
intended to produce. It diminishes, instead of increas- 
ing, the sensibility of the heart ; a combination of ro- 
mantic imagery is requisite to act upon the associations 
of sentimental people, and they are virtuous only when 
virtue is in perfectly good taste. An eloquent philoso- 
pher! observes, that in the description of scenes of dis- 
tress in romance and poetry, the distress is always made 
elegant; the imagination which has been accustomed to 
this delicacy in fictitious narrations, revolts from the 
disgusting circumstances which attend real poverty, dis- 
ease, and misery ; the emotions of pity, and the ex- 
ertions of benevolence, are consequently repressed 
precisely at the time Avhen they are necessary to hu- 
manity. 

With, respect to pity, it is a spontaneous, natural 
emotion, which is strongly felt by children, but they 
cannot properly be said to feel benevolence till they are 
capable of reasoning. Charity must, in them, be a very 
doubtful virtue ; they cannot be competent judges as to 
the general utility of what they give. Persons of the 

* See a letter of Mr. Wyndham's to Mr. Repton, in Repton, on 
Landscape Gardening. 
t The Cntic. X Professor Stewart. 

L3 



250 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

most enlarged understanding, find it necessary to be ex- 
tremely cautious in charitable donations, lest they should 
do more harm than good. Children cannot see beyond 
thtf first link in the chain which holds society together ; 
at the best, then, their charity can be but a partial virtue. 
But in fact, children have nothing to give ; they think 
that they give, when they dispose of the property of 
their parents ; they suffer no privation from this sort of 
generosity, and they learn ostentation, instead of prac- 
tising self-denial. Berquin, in his excellent story of 
" The Little Needle Woman," has made the children 
give their own work; here the pleasure of employment 
is immediately connected with the gratification of be- 
nevolent feelings ; their pity is not merely passive, it is 
active and useful. 

In fictitious narratives, affection for parents, and for 
brothers and sisters, is often painted in agreeable colours, 
to excite the admiration and sympathy of children. 
Caroline, the charming little girl who gets upon a chair 
to wipe away the tears that trickle down her eldest 
sister's cheek when her mother is displeased with her,* 
forms a natural and beautiful picture ; but the desire to 
imitate Caroline must produce affectation. All the sim- 
plicity of youth is gone, the moment children perceive 
that they are extolled for the expression of fine feelings 
and fine sentiments. Gratitude, esteem, and affection, 
do not depend upon the table of consanguinity ; they are 
involuntary feelings, which cannot be raised at pleasure 
by the voice of authority ; they will not obey the dic- 
tates of interest ; they secretly despise the anathemas 
of sentiment. Esteem and affection are the necessary 
consequences of a certain course of conduct, combined 
with certain external circumstances, which are, more or 
less, in the power of every individual. To arrange these 
circumstances prudently, and to pursue a proper course 
of conduct steadily, something more is necessary than 
the transitory impulse of sensibility or of enthusiasm. 

There is a class of books which amuse the imagina- 
tion of children without acting upon their feelings. We 
do not allude to fairy tales, for we apprehend that these 
are not now much read ; but we mean voyages and 
travels ; these interest young people universally. Rob- 
inson Crusoe, Gulliver, and the Three Russian Sailors, 

■*' Berqiiin, 



BOOKS. 251 

■who were cast away upon the coast of Norway, are 
general favourites. No child ever read an account of a 
shipwreck, or even a storm, without pleasure. A desert 
island is a delightful place, to be equalled only by the 
skating land of the raindeer, or by the valley of dia- 
monds in the Arabian Tales. Savages, especially if they 
be cannibals, are sure to be admired ; and the more hair- 
breadth escapes the hero of the tale has survived, and 
the more marvellous his adventures, the more sympathy 
he excites.* 

Will it be thought to proceed from a spirit of contra- 
diction if we remark, that this species of reading should 
not early be chosen for boys of an enterprising temper, 
unless they are intended for a seafaring life, or for the 
army 1 The taste for adventure is absolutely incom- 
patible with the sober perseverance necessary to suc- 
cess in any other liberal professions. To girls, this 
species of reading cannot be as dangerous as it is to 
boys ; girls must very soon perceive the impossibility 
of their rambling about the world in quest 'of adven- 
tures ; and where there appears an obvious impossibility 
of gratifying any wish, it is not likely to become, or at 
least to continue, a torment to the imagination. Boys, 
on the contrary, from the habits of their education, are 
prone to admire and to imitate every thing like enter- 
prise and heroism. Courage and fortitude are the vir- 
tues of men, and it is natural that boys should desire, if 
they believe that they possess these virtues, to be placed 
in those great and extraordinary situations which can 
display them to advantage. The taste for adventure is 
not repressed in boys by the impossibility of its indul- 
gence ; the world is before them, and they think that 
fame promises the highest prize to those who will most 
boldly venture in the lottery of fortune. The rational 
probability of success, few young people are able, fewer 
still are willing, to calculate ; and the calculations of 
prudent friends have little power over their understand- 
ings, or, at least, over their imagination, the part of the 
understanding which is most likely to decide their con- 
duct. — From general maxims, we cannot expect that 
young people should learn much prudence ; each indi- 
vidual admits the propriety of the rule, yet believes 
himself to be a privileged exception. Where any prize 

* See Sympathy and Sensibility. 



252 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

is supposed to be in the gift of fortune, every man, or 
every young man, takes it for granted that he is a fa- 
vourite, and that it will be bestowed upon him. The 
profits of commerce and of agriculture, the profits of 
every art and profession, can be estimated with tolerable 
accuracy ; the value of activity, application, and abili- 
ties, can be respectively measured by some certain 
standard. Modest, or even prudent people, will scruple 
to rate themselves in all of these qualifications superior 
to their neighbours ; but every man will allow that, in 
point of good fortune, at any game of chance, he 
thinks himself upon a fair level with every other com- 
petitor. 

When a young man deliberates upon "what course 
of life he shall fcUow, the patient drudgery of a trade, 
the laborious mental exertions requisite to prepare him 
for a profession, must appear to him in a formidable 
light, compared with the alluring prospects presented 
by an adventuring imagination. At this time of life, it 
will be too late suddenly to change the taste ; it will be 
inconvenient, if not injurious, to restrain a young man's 
inclinations by force or authority ; it will be imprudent, 
perhaps fatally imprudent, to leave them uncontrolled. 
Precautions should therefore be taken long before this pe- 
riod, and the earlier they are taken the better. It is not 
idle refinement to assert, that the first impressions which 
are made upon the imagination, though they may be 
changed by subsequent circumstances, yet are discernible 
in every change, and are seldom entirely effaced from the 
mind, though it may be diflicult to trace them through all 
their various appearances. A boy who at seven years old 
longs to be Robinson Crusoe, or Sinbad the sailor, may, 
at seventeen, retain the same taste for adventure and 
enterprise, though mixed, so as to be less discernible, 
with the incipient passions of avarice and ambition ; he 
has the same dispositions modified by a slight knowl- 
edge of real life, and guided by the manners and con- 
versation of his friends and acquaintance. Robinson 
Crusoe and Sinbad will no longer be his favourite he- 
roes ; but he will now admire the soldier of fortune, the 
commercial adventurer, or the nabob, who has dis- 
covered in the east the secret of Aladdin's wonderful 
lamp ; and who has realized the treasures of Aboul- 
casem. 

The history of realities, written in an entertaining 



BOOKS. 253 

manner, appears not only better suited to the purposes 
of education, but also more agreeable to young people, 
than improbable fictions. We have seen the reasons 
why it is dangerous to pamper the taste early with mere 
books of entertainment; to voyages and travels we 
have made some objections. Natural history is a study 
particularly suited to children : it cultivates their talents 
for observation, applies to objects within their reach, 
and to objects which are every day interesting to them. 
The histories of the bee, the ant, the caterpillar, the 
butterfly, the silkworm, are the first things that please 
the taste of children, and these are the histories of 
realities. 

Among books of mere entertainment, no one 7!an be 
so injudicious, or so unjust, as to class the excellent 
" Evenings at Home." Upon a close examination, it 
appears to be one of the best books for young people 
from seven to ten years old, that has yet appeared. We 
shall not pretend to enter into a minute examination of 
it ; because, from what we have already said, parents 
can infer our sentiments, and we wish to avoid tedious, 
unnecessary detail. We shall, however, just observe, 
that the lessons on natural history, on njetals, and on 
chymistry, are particularly useful ; not so much from the 
quantity of knowledge which they contain, as by the 
agreeable manner in which it is communicated : the 
mind is opened to extensive views, at the same time 
that nothing above the comprehension of children is 
introduced. The mixture of moral and scientific lessons 
is happily managed, so as to relieve the attention ; 
some of the moral lessons contain sound argument, and 
some display just views of life. " Perseverance against 
Fortune;" "The Price of Victory;" "Eyes and no 
Eyes," have been generally admired as much by parents 
as by children. 

There is a little book called " Leisure Hours," which 
contains a great deal of knowledge suited to young peo- 
ple ; but they must observe, that the style is not ele- 
gant; perhaps, in a future edition, the style may be 
revised. The " Conversations d'Emile" are elegantly 
written, and the character of the mother and child ad- 
mirably well preserved. White of Selborne's Natural- 
ist's Calendar, we can recommend with entire approba- 
tion : it is written in a familiar, yet elegant style ; and 
the journal form gives it that air of reality which is so 



254 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

agreeable and interesting to the mind. Mr. White will 
make those who have observed, observe the more, and 
will excite the spirit of observation in those who never 
before observed. 

SnielUe's Natural History is a useful, entertaining 
book ; but it 7nust be carefully looked over, and many- 
pages and half pages must be entirely sacrificed. And 
here one general caution may be necessary. It is 
hazarding too much to make children promise not to 
read parts of any book which is put into their hands ; 
when the book is too valuable, in a parent's estimation, 
to be cut or blotted, let it not be given to children when 
they are alone ; in a parent's presence there is no dan- 
ger, and the children will acquire the habit of reading 
the passages that are selected without feeling curiosity 
about the rest. As young people grow up, they will 
judge of the selections that have been made for them ; 
they will perceive why such a passage was fit for their 
understanding at one period, which they could not have 
understood at another. If they are never forced to 
read what is tiresome, they will anxiously desire to 
have passages selected for them ; and they will not 
imagine that their parents are capricious in these selec- 
tions ; but they will, we speak from experience, be sin- 
cerely grateful to them for the time and trouble be- 
stowed in procuring their literary amusements. 

When young people have established their character 
for truth and exact integrity, they should be entirely 
trusted with books as with every thing else. A slight 
pencil line at the side of a page will then be all that is 
necessary to guide them to the best parts of any book. 
Suspicion would be as injurious as too easy a faith is 
imprudent : confidence confirms integrity ; but the 
habits of truth must be formed before dangerous tempta- 
tions are presented. We intended to give a list of 
books, and to name the pages in several authors, which 
have been found interesting to children from seven to 
nine or ten years old. The Reviews; The Annual 
Registers ; Enfield's Speaker ; Elegant Extracts ; The 
papers of the Manchester Society ; The French Academy 
of Sciences ; Priestley's History of Vision ; and parts 
of the Works of Frankhn, of Chaptal, Lavoisier, and 
Darwin, have supplied us with our best materials. 
Some periodical papers from the World, Rambler, 
Guardian, and Adventurer, have been chosen : these 



BOOKS. 255 

are books with which all libraries are furnished. But 
we forbear to offer any list ; the passages we should 
have mentioned have been found to please in one 
family ; but we are sensible, that as circumstances vary, 
the choice of books for different famihes ought to be 
different. Every parent must be capable of selecting 
those passages in books which are most suited to the 
age, temper, and taste of their children. Much of the 
success, both of literary and moral education, will de- 
pend upon our seizing the happy moments for instruc- 
tion ; moments when knowledge immediately applies 
to what children are intent upon themselves ; the step 
which is to be taken by the understanding, should im- 
mediately foJlow that which has already been secured. 
By watching the turn of mind, and by attending to the 
conversation of children, we may perceive exactly 
what will suit them in books ; and we may preserve the 
connexion of their ideas without fatiguing their atten- 
tion. A paragraph read aloud from the newspaper of 
the day, a passage from any book which parents happen 
to be reading themselves, will catch the attention of the 
young people in a family, and will, perhaps, excite more 
taste and more curiosity, than could be given by whole 
volumes read at times when the mind is indolent or 
intent upon other occupations. 

The custom of reading aloud for a great while to- 
gether is extremely fatiguing to children, and hurtful to 
their understandings ; they learn to read on without the 
slightest attention or thought ; the more fluently they 
read, the worse it is for them ; for their preceptors, 
while words and sentences are pronounced with tolera- 
ble emphasis, never seem to suspect that the reader can 
be tired, or that his mind may be absent from his book. 
The monotonous tones which are acquired by children 
who read a great deal aloud, are extremely disagreeable, 
and the habit cannot easily be broken : we may observe, 
that children who have not acquired bad customs, al- 
ways read as they speak, when they understand what 
they read ; but the moment when they come to any 
sentence which they do not comprehend, their voice 
alters, and they read with hesitation, or with false em- 
phasis : to these signals a preceptor should always 
attend, and the passage should be explained before the 
pupil is taught to read it in a musical tone, or with the 
proper emphasis : thus children should be taught to read 



256 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

by the understanding, and not merely by the ear. 
Dialogues, dramas, and well-written narratives, they 
always read ivell, and these should be their exercises in 
the art of reading : they should be allowed to put down 
the book as soon as they are tired ; but an attentive 
tutor will perceive when they ought to be stopped, he- 
fore the utmost point of fatigue. We have heard a boy 
of nine years old, who had never been taught elocution 
by any reading-master, read simple pathetic passages, 
and natural dialogues, in " P^venings at Home," in a 
manner which would have made even Sterne's critic 
forget his stop-watch. 

By reading much at a time, it is true that a great 
number of books are run through in a few years ; but 
this is not at all our object ; on the contrary, our great- 
est difficulty has been to find a sufficient number of 
books fit for children to read. If they early acquire a 
strong taste for literature, no matter how few authors 
they may have perused. We have often heard young 
people exclaim, " I'm glad I have not read such a book 
— I have a great pleasure to come !" — Is not this better 
than to see a child yawn over a work, and count the 
number of tiresome pages, while he says, " I shall have 
got through this book by-and-by ; and what must I read 
when I have done this ? I believe I never shall have 
read all I am to read ! What a number of tiresome 
books there are in the world ! I wonder what can be 
the reason that I must read them all ? If I were but 
allowed to skip the pages that I don't understand, I 
should be much happier ; for when I come to any thing 
entertaining in a book, I can keep myself awake, and 
then I like reading as well as anybody does." 

Far from forbidding to skip the incomprehensible 
pages, or to close the tiresome volume, we should ex- 
hort our pupils never to read one single page that tires, 
or that they do not fully understand. We need not fear, 
that, because an excellent book is not interesting at one 
period of education, it should not become interesting at 
another ; the child is always the best judge of what is 
suited to his present capacity. If he says, " Such a 
book tires me," the preceptor should never answer with 
a forbidding, reproachful look, " I am surprised at that, 
it is no great proof of your taste ; the book which you 
say tires you, is written by one of the best authors in 
the English language." Tihe boy is sorry for it, but he 



BOOKS. 257 

cannot help it ; and he concludes, if he be of a timid 
temper, that he has no taste for literature, since the best 
authors in the English language tire him. It is in vain 
to tell him that the book is " universally allowed to be 
very entertaining" — 

' If it be not such to me, 
What care I how fine it be !" 

The more encouraging and more judicious parent 
would answer upon a similar occasion, " You are very 
right not to read what tires you, my dear ; and I am 
glad that you have sense enough to tell me that this 
book does not entertain you, though it is written by one 
of the best authors in the English language. We do 
not think at all the worse of your taste and understand- 
ing; we know that the day will come when this book 
will probably entertain you; put it by until then, I 
advise you." 

It may be thought, that young people who read only 
those parts of books which are entertaining, or those 
which are selected for them, are in danger of learning 
a taste for variety, and desultory habits, which may 
prevent their acquiring accurate knowledge upon any 
subject, and which may render them incapable of that 
literary appHcation, without which nothing can be 
well learned. We hope the candid preceptor will sus- 
pend his judgment, until we can explain our sentiments 
upon this subject more fully, when we examine the 
nature of invention and memory.* 

The secret fear that stimulates parents to compel their 
children to constant application to certain books, arises 
from the opinion, that much chronological and historical 
knowledge must at all events be acquired during a certain 
number of years. The knowledge of history is thought 
a necessary accomplishment in one sex, and an essen- 
tial part of education in the other. We ought, however, 
to distinguish between that knowledge of history and 
of chronology which is really useful, and that wliich is 
acquired merely for parade. We must call that useful 
knowledge w^hich enlarges the view of human life and 
of human nature, which teaches by the experience of 
the past what we may expect in future. To study 

*■ Chapter on Invention and Memoiy. 



258 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

history as it relates to these objects, the pupil must have 
acquired much previous knowledge; the habit of rea- 
soning, and the power of combining distant analogies. 
The works of Hume, of Robertson, Gibbon, or Voltaire, 
can be properly understood only by well-informed and 
highly cultivated understandings. Enlarged views of 
policy, some knowledge of the interests of commerce, 
of the progress and state of civilization and literature in 
different countries, are necessary to any one who 
studies these authors with real advantage. Without 
these, the finest sense and the finest writing must be 
utterly thrown away upon the reader. Children, conse- 
quently, under the name of fashionable histories, often 
read what to them is absolute nonsense : they have 
very little motive for the study of history, and all that 
we can say to keep alive their interest, amounts to the 
common argument, " that such information will be use- 
ful to them hereafter, when they hear history mentioned 
in conversation." 

Some people imagine that the memory resembles a 
storehouse, in which we should early lay up facts ; and 
they assert that, however useless these may appear at 
the time when they are laid up, they will afterward be 
ready for service at our summons. One comparison 
may be fairly answered by another, since it is impossible 
to oppose comparison by reasoning. In accumulating 
facts, as in amassing riches, people often begin by be- 
lieving that they value wealth only for the use they 
ftshall make of it ; but it often happens, that during the 
course of their labours they learn habitually to set a 
value upon the coin itself, and they grow avaricious of 
that which they are sensible has little intrinsic value. 
Young people who have accumulated a vast number of 
facts, and names, and dates, perhaps intended originally 
to make some good use of their treasure ; but they fre- 
quently forget their laudable intentions, and conclude by 
contenting themselves with the display of their nominal 
wealth. Pedants and misers forget the real use of 
wealth and knowledge, and they accumulate, without 
rendering what they acquire useful to themselves or to 
others. 

A number of facts are often stored in the mind which 
lie there useless, because they cannot be found at the 
moment when they are wanted. It is not sufficient, 
therefore, in education, to store up knowledge ; it is 



BOOKS. ^ 259 

essential to arrange facts so that they shall be ready for 
use, as materials for the imagination, or the judgment, 
to select and combine. The power of retentive mem- 
ory is exercised too much, the faculty of recolleclive 
memory is exercised too little, by the common modes 
of education. While children are reading the history 
of kings, and battles, and victories — while they are 
learning tables of chronology and lessons of geography 
by rote, their inventive and their reasoning faculties are 
absolutely passive ; nor are any of the facts which they 
learn in this manner associated with circumstances in 
real life. These trains of ideas may with much pains 
and labour be fixed in the memory, but they must be re- 
called precisely in the order in which they were learned 
by rote, and this is not the order in which they may 
be wanted: they will be conjured up in technical suc- 
cession or in troublesome multitudes. Many people are 
obliged to repeat the alphabet before they can recollect 
the relative place of any given letter ; others repeat a 
column of the multiplication table before they can recol- 
lect the given sum of the number they want. There is 
a common rigmarole for telling the number of days in 
each month in the year ; those who have learned it by 
heart usually repeat the whole of it before they can 
recollect the place of the month which they want ; and 
sometimes in running over the lines, people miss the 
very month which they are thinking of, or repeat its 
name without perceiving that they have named it. In 
the same manner, those who have learned historical or 
chronological facts in a technical mode, must go through 
the whole train of their rigmarole associations before 
they can hit upon the idea which they want. Lord 
Bolingbroke mentions an acquaintance of his, who had 
an amazing collection of facts in his memory, but unfor- 
tunately he could never produce one of them in the 
proper moment; he was always obliged to go back to 
some fixed landing-place, from which he was accus- 
tomed to take his flight. Lord Bolingbroke used to be 
afraid of asking him a question, because when once he 
began, he went off like a larum, and could not be stopped • 
he poured out a profusion of things which had nothing 
to do with the point in question ; and it was ten to ono 
but he omitted the only circumstance that would have 
been really serviceable. Many people who have tena- 
cious memories, and who have been ill educated, find 



260 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

themselves in a similar condition, with much knowledge 
baled up, an encumbrance to themselves and to their 
friends. The great difference which appears in men 
of the same profession, and in the same circumstances, 
depends upon the application of their knowledge more 
than upon the quantity of their learning. 

With respect to a knowledge of history and chrono- 
logic learning, everybody is now nearly upon a level ; 
this species of information cannot be a great distinction 
to any one : a display of such common knowledge is 
considered by literary people, and by men of genius es- 
pecially, as ridiculous and offensive. One motive, there- 
fore, for loading the minds of children with historic 
dates and facts, is likely, even from its having universallj'- 
operated, to cease to operate in future. Without ma- 
king it a laborious task to young people, it is easy to 
give them such a knowledge of history as will preserve 
them from the shame of ignorance, and put them upon 
a footing with men of good sense in society, though 
not, perhaps, with men who have studied history for the 
purpose of shining in conversation. For our purpose, it 
is not necessary early to study voluminous philosophic 
histories ; these should be preserved for a more ad- 
vanced period of their education. The first thing to be 
done is to seize the moment when curiosity is excited 
by the accidental mention of any historic name or 
event. When a child hears his father talk of the Ro- 
man emperors, or of the Roman people, he naturally in- 
quires who these people were ; some short explanation 
may be given, so as to leave curiosity yet unsatisfied. 
The prints of the Roman emperors' heads, and Mrs. 
Trimmer's prints of the remarkable events in the Roman 
and English history, will entertain children. Madame 
de Silleri, in her Adela and Theodore, describes histori- 
cal hangings, which she found advantageous to her pu- 
pils. In a prince's palace, or a nobleman's palace, such 
hangings would be suitable decorations, — or in a public 
seminary of education it would be worth while to pre- 
pare them : private families would, perhaps, be alarmed 
at the idea of expense, and at the idea that their houses 
could not readily be furnished in proper time for the in- 
struction of children. As we know the effect of such 
apprehensions of difficulty, we forbear from insisting 
upon historical hangings, especially as we think that 
children should not, by any great apparatus for teaching 



BOOKS. 261 

them history, be induced to set an exorbitant value upon 
this sort of knowledge, and should hence be excited to 
cultivate their memories without reasoning or reflect- 
ing. If any expedients are thought necessary to fix his- 
toric facts early in the mind, the entertaining display of 
Roman emperors and British kings and queens may be 
made, as Madame de Silleri recommends, in a magic 
lantern, or by the Omhres Chinoises. When these are 
exhibited, there should be some care taken not to intro- 
duce any false ideas. Parents should be present at the 
spectacle, and should answer each eager question with 
prudence. " Ha ! here comes Queen Elizabeth !" ex- 
claims the child ; " was she a good woman V A fool- 
ish show-man would answer, " Yes, master, she was the 
greatest queen that ever sat upon the English throne !" 
A sensible mother would reply, " My dear, I cannot an- 
swer that question ; you will read her history yourself, 
— you will judge by her actions whether she was or was 
not a good woman." Children are often extremely im- 
patient to settle the precise merit and demerit of every 
historical personage with whose names they become 
acquainted ; but this impatience should not be gratified 
by the short method of referring to the characters given 
of these persons in any common historical abridgment. 
We should advise all such characters to be omitted in 
books for children ; let those who read form a judg- 
ment for themselves ; this will do more service to the 
understanding than can be done by learning by rote the 
opinion of any historian. The good and bad qualities, 
the decisive, yet contradictory epithets, are so jumbled 
together in these characters, that no distinct notion can 
be left in the reader's mind : and the same words recur 
so frequently in the characters of diff'erent kings, that 
they are read over in a monotonous voice, as mere con- 
cluding sentences, which come, of course, at the end of 
every reign. " King Henry the Fifth was tall and slen- 
der, with a long neck, engaging aspect, and limbs of the 
most elegant turn. ****** y{\% valour was 
such as no danger could startle, and no difficulty could 
oppose. He managed the dissensions among his ene- 
mies with such address as spoke him consummate in 
the arts of the cabinet. He was chaste, temperate, mod- 
est, and devout ; scrupulously just in his administration, 
and severely exact in the disciphne of his army, upon 
which he knew his glory and success in a great measure 



262 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

depended. In a word, it must be owned that he was 
without an equal in the arts of war, policy, and govern- 
ment. His great qualities were, however, somewhat 
obscured by his ambition, and his natural propensity to 
cruelty." 

Is it possible that a child of seven or eight years old 
can acquire any distinct, or any just ideas, from the pe- 
rusal of this character of Henry the Fifth 1 Yet it is 
selected as one of the best drawn characters from a little 
abridgment of the history of England, which is, in gen- 
eral, as well done as any we have seen. Even the least 
exceptionable historic abridgments require the correc- 
tions of a patient parent. In abridgments for children, 
the facts are usually interspersed with what the authors 
intend for moral reflections, and easy explanations of 
political events, which are meant to be suited to the 
meanest capacities. These reflections and explanations 
do much harm ; they instil prejudice, and they accus- 
tom the young, unsuspicious reader, to swallow absurd 
reasoning, merely because it is often presented to him. 
If no history can be found entirely free from these de- 
fects, and if it be even impossible to correct any com- 
pletely, without writing the whole over again, yet much 
may be done by those who hear children read. Expla- 
nations can be given at the moment when the difllculties 
occur. When the young reader pauses to think, allow 
him to think, and sufl'er him to question the assertions 
which he meets with in books with freedom, and that 
minute accuracy which is only tiresome to those who 
cannot reason. The simple morality of childhood is 
continually puzzled and shocked at the representation 
of the crimes and the virtues of historic heroes. His- 
tory, when divested of the graces of eloquence, and of 
that veil which the imagination is taught to throw over 
antiquity, presents a disgusting, terrible list of crimes 
and calamities : murders, assassinations, battles, revolu- 
tions, are the memorable events of history. The love 
of glory atones for military barbarity ; treachery and 
fraud are frequently dignified with the names of pru- 
dence and policy ; and the historian, desirous to appear 
moral and sentimental, yet compelled to produce facts, 
makes out an inconsistent, ambiguous system of moral- 
ity. A judicious and honest preceptor will not, how- 
ever, imitate the false tenderness of the historian for 
the dead : he will rather consider what is most advan- 



BOOKS. 263 

tageous to the living ; he will perceive tliat it is of more 
consequence that his pupils should have distinct notions 
of right and wrong, than that they should have perfectly 
by rote all the Grecian, Roman, English, French, all the 
fifty volumes of the Universal History. A preceptor 
will not surely attempt, by any sophistry, to justify the 
crimes which sometimes obtain the name of heroism ; 
when his ingenuous, indignant pupil verifies the aston- 
ishing numeration of the hundreds and thousands that 
were put to death by a conqueror, or that fell in one 
battle, he will allow this astonishment and indignation 
to be just, and he will rejoice that it is strongly felt and 
expressed. 

Besides the false characters which are sometimes 
drawn of individuals in history, national characters are 
often decidedly given in a few epithets, which prejudice 
the mind and convey no real information. Can a child 
learn any thing but national prepossession from reading, 
in a character of the English nation, that " boys, before 
they can speak, discover that they know the proper 
guards in boxing with their fists, a quality that, perhaps, 
is peculiar to the English, and is seconded by a strength 
of arm that few other people can exert 1 This gives 
their soldiers an infinite superiority in all battles that 
are to be decided by the bayonet screwed upon the 
musket."* Why should children be told that the Ital- 
ians are naturally revengeful ; the French naturalhj vain 
and perfidious, " excessively credulous and litigious;" 
that the Spaniards are naturally ]e^\ous and haughty If 
The patriotism of an enlarged and generous mind can- 
not, surely, depend upon the early contempt inspired for 
foreign nations. — We do not speak of the education 
necessary for naval and military men — with this we 
have nothing to do ; but surely it cannot be necessary 
to teach national prejudices to any other class of young 
men. If these prejudices are ridiculed by sensible pa- 
rents, children will not be misled by partial authors; 
general assertions will be of little consequence to those 
who are taught to reason ; they will not be overawed 
by nonsense wherever they may meet with it. 

The words whig and tory occur frequently in Eng- 
lish history, and liberty and tyranny are talked of — the 

* Guthrie's Geographical, Historical, and Comraercial Grammar 
page 186. + Guthrie, page 3'J8. 



264 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

influence of the crown — the rights of the people. What 
are children of eight or nine years old to understand by 
these expressions I and how can a tutor explain them 
without inspiring political prejudices ? We do not mean 
here to enter into any pohtical discussion ; we think 
that children should not be taught the principles of their 
preceptors, whatever they maybe; they should judge 
for themselves ; and, until they are able to judge, all 
discussion, all explanations, should be scrupulously 
avoided. While they are children, the plainest chroni- 
cles are for them the best histories, because they ex- 
press no political tenets and dogmas. When our pupils 
grow up, at whatever age they may be capable of un- 
derstanding them, the best authors who have written on 
each side of the question, the best works, without any 
party considerations, should be put into their hands ; and 
let them form their own opinions from facts and argu- 
ments, uninfluenced by passion, and uncontrolled by 
authority. 

As young people increase their collection of historic 
facts, some arrangement will be necessary to preserve 
these in proper order in the memory. Priestley's Bio- 
graphical Chart is an extremely ingenious contrivance 
for this purpose ; it should hang up in the room where 
children read, or rather where they live ; for we hope 
no room will ever be dismally consecrated to their 
studies. Whenever they hear any celebrated name 
mentioned, or when they meet with any in books, they 
will run to search for these names in the biographical 
chart ; and those who are used to children will per- 
ceive, that the pleasure of this search, and the joy of the 
discovery, will fix biography and chronology easily in 
their memories. Mortimer's Student's Dictionary, and 
Brooke's Gazetteer, should, in a library or room which 
children usually inhabit, be always within the reach of 
children. If they are always consulted at the very mo- 
ment they are wanted, much may be learned from 
them ; but if there be any difficulty in getting at these 
dictionaries, children forget, and lose all interest in the 
things which they wanted to know. But if knowledge 
becomes immediately useful or entertaining to them, 
there is no danger of their forgetting. Who ever for- 
gets Shakspeare's historical plays ] The arrangements 
contrived and executed by others do not always fix 
things so firmly in our remembrance as those which 



BOOKS. 265 

we have had some share in contriving and executing 
ourselves. 

One of our pupils has drawn out a biographical chart 
upon the plan of Priestley's, inserting such names only 
as he was well acquainted with ; he found that in draw- 
ing out this chart, a great portion of general history and 
biography was fixed in his memory. Charts, in the 
form of Priestley's, but without the names of the he- 
roes, &c. being inserted, would, perhaps, be useful (or 
schools and private families. 

There are two French historical works which we 
wish were well translated for the advantage of those 
who do not understand French. The Chevalier Me- 
heghan's Tableau de I'Histoire Moderne, which is sensi- 
bly divided into epochs ; and Condillac's View of Uni- 
versal History, comprised in five volumes, in his " Cours 
d'Etude pour I'lnstruction du Prince de Parma." This 
history carries on, along with the records of wars and 
revolutions, the history of the progress of the human 
mind, of arts, and sciences ; the view of the diflferent 
governments of Europe is full and concise ; no preju- 
dices are instilled, yet the manly and rational eloquence 
of virtue gives life and spirit to the work. The con- 
cluding address, from the preceptor to his royal pupil, 
is written with all the enlightened energy of a man of 
truth and genius. We do not recommend Condillac's 
history as an elementary work ; for this it is by no 
means fit; but it is one of the best histories that a 
young man of fifteen or sixteen can read. 

It is scarcely possible to conceive, that several trea- 
tises on grammar, the art of reasoning, thinking, and 
writing, which are contained in M. Condillac's course 
of study, were designed by him for elementary books, 
for the instruction of a child from seven to ten years 
old. It appears the more surprising that the abbe should 
have so far mistaken the capacity of childhood, because, 
in his judicious preface, he seems fully sensible of the 
danger of premature cultivation, and of the absurdity of 
substituting a knowledge of words for a knowledge of 
things, A.S M. Condillac's is a work of high reputation, 
we may be allowed to make a few remarks on its prac- 
tical utility ; and this may, perhaps, afford us an oppor- 
tunity of explaining our ideas upon the use of meta- 
physical, poetical, and critical works, in early educa- 
tion. We do not mean any invidious criticism upon 
M 



2G6 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Condillac,but in " Practical Education" we wislito take 
our examples and illustrations from real life. The 
abbe's course of study, for a boy of seven years old, be- 
gins with metaph)'^sics. In his preface he asserts, that 
the arts of speaking, reasoning, and writing, differ from 
one another only in degrees of accuracy, and in the 
more or less perfect connexion of ideas. He observes, 
that attention to the manner in which we acquire and 
in which we arrange our knowledge, is equally neces- 
sary to those who would learn and to those who would 
teach, with success. These remarks are just ; but does 
not he draw an erroneous conclusion from his own 
principles, when he infers, that the first lessons which 
we should teach a child ought to be metaphysicaU He 
has given us an abstract of those which he calls pre- 
liminary lessons, on the operations. of the soul, on at- 
tention, judgment, imagination, &c. — he adds, that he 
thought it useless to give to the public the conversa- 
tions and explanations which he had with his pupil on 
these subjects. Both parents and children must regret 
the suppression of these explanatory notes ; as the les- 
sons appear at present, no child of seven years old can 
understand, and few preceptors can or will make them 
what they ought to be. In the first lesson on the differ- 
ent species of ideas, the abbe says, 

" The idea, for instance, which I have of Peter, is sin- 
gular, or individual ; and as the idea of man is general 
relatively to the ideas of a nobleman and a citizen, it is 
particular as it relates to the idea of animal."* 

" Relatively to the ideas of a nobleman and a citizen." 
"What a long explanation upon these words there must 
have been between the abbe and the prince ! The whole 
view of society must have been opened at once, or the 
prince must have swallowed prejudices and metaphysics 
together. To make these things familiar to a child, 
Condillac says that we must bring a few or many ex- 
amples ; but where shall we find examples 1 Where 
shall we find proper words to express to a child ideas of 
political relations mingled with metaphysical subtleties ? 

Through this whole chapter on particular and gen- 
eral ideas, the abbe is secretly intent upon a dispute be- 

*" L'idee, par exemple, que j'ai de Pierre, est singulieie ou indi- 
viduelle, et coinnie l'idee d'homme est generale par rapport aux 
idees de noble et de rotorier, elle est particuli^re par rapport a l'idee 
d'animal."— Letjons Preliminaires, vol. i. p. 43. 



BOOKS. 267 

gun or revived in the Ihirteenth century, and not yet 
finished, between the Nominalists and the Realists ; but 
a child knows nothing^ of this. 

In the article " On the Power of Thinking:," an article 
which he acknowledges to be a little difficult, he ob- 
serves, that the great point is to make the child com- 
prehend what is meant by attention ; " for as soon as 
he understands that, all the rest," he assures us, " will 
be easy." Is it then of less consequence that the child 
should learn the habit of attention, than that he should 
learn the meaning of the word ? Granting, however, 
that the definition of this word is of consequence, that 
definition should be made proportionably clear. The 
tutor, at least, must understand it, before he can hope 
to explain it to his pupil. Here it is : 

" * * * when among many sensations which you 
experience at the same time, tke direction of the organs 
makes you take notice of one, so that you do not ob- 
serve the others any longer, this sensation becomes 
what we call attention* 

This is not accurate; it is not clear whether the di- 
rection of the organs be the cause or the effect of at- 
tention ; or whether it be only a concomitant of the 
sensation. Attention, we know, can be exercised upon 
abstract ideas ; for this objection M. Condillac has after- 
ward a provisional clause, but the original definitioii 
remains defective, because the direction of the organs 
is not, though it be stated as such, essential ; besides, 
we are told only, that the sensation described becomes 
(devient) what we call attention. What attention actu- 
ally is, we are still left to discover. The matter is 
made yet more difficult; for when we are just fixed in 
the belief that attention depends " upon our remarking 
one sensation, and not remarking others which we may- 
have at the same time," we are in the next chapter given 
to understand, that " in comparison we may have a dou- 
ble attention, or two attentions, which are only two sen- 
sations, which make themselves be taken notice of 
equally ; and consequently comparison consists only of 
sensations."! 

" * Ainsi lorsque, de plusiers sensations qui .se font en meme temps 
8iir vous, la direction des organ.s vous en fait remarquer une, de ma- 
niere que vous ne reniarquez plus les autres, cette sensation devient 
ce que nous appelions atteationy — Legons Preiiminaires, p. 46. 

t " La Comparaison n'est done qu'une double attention. Nous ve- 
M2 



268 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

The doctrine of simultaneous ideas here glides in, 
and we concede unawares all that is necessary to the 
abbe's favourite system, " that sensation becomes suc- 
cessively attention, memory, comparison, judgment, and 
reflection ;* and that the art of reasoning is reducible 
to a series of identic propositions." Without, at pres- 
ent, attempting to examine this system, we may ob- 
serve, that in education it is more necessary to preserve 
the mind from prejudice, than to prepare it for the adop- 
tion of any system. Those who have attended to met- 
aphysical proceedings know, that if a few apparently 
trifling concessions be made in the beginning of the 
business, a man of ingenuity may force us, in the end, 
to acknowledge whatever he pleases. It is impossible 
that a child can foresee these consequences, nor is it 
probable that he should have paid such accurate atten- 
tion to the operations of his own mind, as to be able to 
detect the fallacy, or to feel the truth, of his tutor's as- 
sertions. A metaphysical catechism may readily be 
taught to children ; they may learn to answer almost 
as readily as Trenck answered in his sleep to the guards 
who regularly called to him every night at midnight. 
Children may answer expertly to the questions, " What 
is attention 1 What is memory 1 What is imagination 1 
What is the difference between wit and judgment 1 How- 
many sorts of ideas have you, and which are they?" 
But when they are perfect in their responses to all these 
questions, how much are they advanced in real knowl- 
edge ] 

Allegory has mixed with metaphysics almost as much 
as with poetry ; personifications of memory and imagi- 
nation are familiar to us ; to each have been addressed 
odes and sonnets, so that we almost believe in their 
individual existence, or at least we are become jealous 
of the separate attributes of these ideal beings. This 
metaphysical mytholog}'^ may be ingenious and elegant, 
but it is better adapted to the pleasures of poetry than 
to the purposes of reasoning. Those who have been 
accustomed to respect and believe in it, will find it difll- 
cult soberly to examine any argument upon abstract 

lions de voir que I'attention n'est qu'une sensation qui se fait reinar- 
quer. Deux attentions ne sent done que deux sensations reinarquer 
egalement ; et par consequence il n'y a dans la comparaison que des 
sensations." — Legons Pr^Iiminaires, p. 47. 
* See Art de Penser, p. 324. 



BOOKS. 



269 



subjects ; their favourite prejudices will retard them, 
when they attempt to advance in the art of reasoning. 
All accurate metaphysical reasoners have perceived 
and deplored the difficulties which the prepossessions 
of education have thrown in their way ; and they have 
been obliged to waste their time and powers in fruitless 
attempts to vanquish these in their own minds, or in 
those of their readers. Can we wish in education to 
perpetuate similar errors, and to transmit to another 
generation the same artificial imbecility ? Or can we 
avoid these evils, if with our present habits of thinking 
and speaking, we attempt to teach metaphysics to chil- 
dren of seven years old 1 

A well-educated, intelligent young man, accustomed 
to accurate reasoning, yet brought up without any met- 
aphysical prejudices, would be a treasure to a meta- 
physician to cross-examine : he would be eager to hear 
the unprejudiced youth's evidence, as the monarch, who 
had ordered a child to be shut up, without hearing one 
word of any human language, from infancy to manhood, 
was impatient to hear what would be the first word that 
he uttered. But though we wish extremely well to the 
experiments of metaphysicians, we are more intent upon 
the advantage which our unprejudiced pupils would 
themselves derive from their judicious education : prob- 
ably they would, coming fresh to the subject, make some 
discoveries in the science of metaphysics : they would 
have no paces* to show ; perhaps they might advance 
a step or two on this difficult ground. 

When we object to the early initiation of novices into 
metaphysical mysteries, we only recommend it to pre- 
ceptors not to teach; let pupils learn whatever they 
please, or whatever they can, without reading any met- 
aphysical books, and without hearing any opinions, or 
learning any definitions by rote ; children may reflect 
upon their own feelings, and they should be encouraged 
to make accurate observations upon their own minds. 
Sensible children will soon, for instance, observe the 
effect of habit, which enables them to repeat actions 
with ease and facility, which they have frequently per- 
formed. The association of ideas, as it assists them to 
remember particular things, will soon be noticed, though 
not, perhaps, in scientific words. The use of the asso- 

* See Dunciad. 



270 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ciation of pain or pleasure, in the form of what we call 
reward and punishment, may probably be early per- 
ceived. Children will be delighted with these discov- 
eries if they are suifered to make them, and they will 
apply this knowledge in their own education. Trifling 
daily events will recall their observations, and experi- 
ence will confirm or correct their juvenile theories. 
But if metaphysical books or dogmas are forced upon 
children in the form of lessons, they will, as such, be 
learned by rote, and forgotten. 

To prevent parents from expecting as much as the 
Abbe Condillac does from the comprehension of pupils 
of six or seven years old upon abstract subjects, and to 
enable preceptors to form some idea of the perfect sim- 
plicity in which children, unprejudiced upon metaphysi- 
cal questions, would express themselves, we give the 
following little dialogues, word for word, as they passed : 

1780. Father. Where do you think '\ 

A . (Six and a half years old.) In my mouth. 

Ho , (Five years and a half old.) In my stomach. 

Father. Where do you feel that you are glad or sorry ^ 

A . In my stomach. 

Ho . In my eyes. 

Father. What are your senses foY ? 

Ho . To know things. 

Without any previous conversation. Ho (five years 

and a half old) said to her mother, " I think you will be 
glad my right foot is sore, because you told me I did not 
lean enough upon my left foot." This child seemed, on 
many occasions, to have formed an accurate idea of the 
use of punisliment, considering it always as pain given 
to cure us of some fault, or to prevent us from suffering 
more pain in future. 

April, 1792. H , a boy nine years and three quar- 
ters old, as he was hammering at a work-bench, paused 
for a short time, and then said to his sister, who was in 
the room with him, " Sister, I observe that when I don't 
look at my right hand when I hammer, and only think 
where it ought to hit, I can hammer much better than 
when I look at it. I don't know what the reason of that 
is ; unless it is because I think in my head." 

M- . I am not sure, but I believe that we do think 

in our heads. 

H . Then, perhaps, my head is divided into two 

parts, and that one thinks for one arm, and one for the 



BOOKS. 271 

other ; so that when I wantio strike with my right arm, 
I think where I want to hit the wood, and then, without 
looking at it, I can move my arm in the right direction : 
as when my father is going to write, he sometimes 
sketches it. 

M . What do you mean, my dear, by sketching it ? 

H . Why, when he moves his hand (flourishes) 

without touching the paper with the pen. And at first, 
when I want to do any thing, I cannot move my hand 
as I mean ; but after being used to it, then I can do much 
better. I don't know why. 

After going on hammering for some time, he stopped 
again, and said, " There's another thing I wanted to tell 
you. Sometimes I think to myself, that it is right to 
think of things that are sensible ; and then when I want 
to set about thinking of things that are sensible, I cannot ; 
I can only think of that over and over again." 

M . You can only think of what 1 

H . Of those words. They seem to be said to me 

over and over again, till I'm quite tired, " That it is right 
to think of things that have some sense." 

The childish expressions in these remarks have not 
been altered, because we wished to show exactly how 
children at this age express their thoughts. If M. Con- 
dillac had been used to converse with children, he surely 
would not have expected that any boy of seven )''ears 
old could understand his definition of attention, and his 
metaphysical preliminary lessons. 

After these preliminary lessons, we have a sketch of 
the Prince of Parma's subsequent studies. M. Condil- 
lac says, that his royal highness (being not yet eight 
years old) was now " perfectly well acquainted with the 
system of intellectual operations. He comprehended 
already the production of his ideas ; he saw the origin 
and the progress of the habits which he had contracted, 
and he perceived how he could substitute just ideas for 
the false ones which had been given to him, and good 
habits instead of the bad habits which he had been suf- 
fered to acquire. He had become so quickly familiar 
with all these things, that he retraced their connexion 
without effort, quite playfully."* 



* Motif des etudes qui ont ete faites apres Legons Prchrmnaires, 
p. 67. Le jeune prince connoissoit deja la systeme des operations 
de son ame, il comprenoit la generation de ses idees, il voyoit I'ori- 



272 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

This prince must have been a prodigy ! After having 
made him reflect upon his own infancy, the abbe judged 
that the infancy of the world would appear to his pupil 
" the most curious subject, and the most easy to study." 
The analogy between these two infancies seems to ex- 
ist chiefly in words ; it is not easy to gratify a child's 
curiosity concerning the infancy of the world Ex- 
tracts from L'Origine des Loix, by M. Goguet, with ex- 
planatory notes, were put into the prince's hands, to ni- 
form him of what happened in the commencement of 
society. These were his evening studies. In the morn- 
ings he read the French poets, Boileau, Moliere, Cor- 
neille, and Racine, Racine, as we are particularly in- 
formed, was, in the space of one year, read over a 
dozen times. Wretched prince ! Unfortunate Racine I 
The abbe acknowledges, that at first these authors were 
not understood with the same ease as the prehminary 
lessons had been : every word stopped the prince, and 
it seemed as if every line were written in an unknown 
language. This is not surprising; for how is it possible 
that a boy of seven or eight years old, who could know 
nothing of life and manners, could taste the wit and 
humour of Moliere ; and, incapable as he must have 
been of sympathy with the violent passions of tragic 
heroes and heroines, how could he admire the lofty 
dramas of Racine T We are willing to suppose that 
the young Prince of Parma was quick, and well-in- 
formed for his age ; but to judge of what is practicable, 
we must produce examples from common life, instead 
of prodigies. 

S , a boy of nine years old, of whose abilities the 

reader will be able to form some judgment from anec- 
dotes in the following pages, whose understanding was 
not wholly uncultivated, when he was between nine 
and ten years old, expressed a wish to read some of 
Shakspeare's plays. King John was given to him. 
After the book had been before him for one winter's 
evening, he returned it to his father, declaring that he 
did not understand one word of the play ; he could not 

gine et le progr^s des habitudes qu'il avoit contractees, et 11 conce- 
vdit comment il pouvoit substitvier des idees justes aux ideas fausses 
qu'on lui avoit donnees, et de bonnes habitudes aux mauvaises 
q\i'on lui avoit laissc prendre. II s'etoit familiarise si promptemenl 
avec toutes ces choses, qu'il s'en retracjoit la suite sans effort, et 
comme en badinant. 



BOOKS. 273 

make out what the people were about, and he did not 

wish to read any more of it. His brother H , at 

twelve years old, had made an equally inefl'ectual at- 
tempt to read Shakspeare ; he was also equally decided 
and honest in expressing his dislike to it ; he was much 

surprised at seeing his sister B , who was a year or 

two older than himself, reading Shakspeare with great 
avidity; and he frequently asked what it was in that 
book that could entertain her. Two years afterward, 

when H was between fourteen and fifteen, he made 

another trial; and he found that he understood the lan- 
guage of Shakspeare without any difficulty. He read 
all the historical plays with the greatest eagerness, and 
particularly seized the character of Falstaff. He gave 
a humorous description of the figure and dress which 
he supposed Sir John should have, of his manner of 

sitting, speaking, and walking. Probably, if H had 

been pressed to read Shakspeare at the time when he 
did not understand it, he might never have read these 
plays with real pleasure during his whole life. Two 
years increase prodigiously the vocabulary and the ideas 
of young people ; and preceptors should consider, that 
what we call literary taste cannot be formed without a 
variety of knowledge. The productions of our ablest 
writers cannot please until we are familiarized to the 
ideas which they contain, or to which they allude.* 

Poetry is usually supposed to be well suited to the 
taste and capacity of children. In the infancy of taste 
and of eloquence, rhetorical language is constantly ad- 
mired ; the bold expression of strong feeling, and the 
simple description of the beauties of nature, are found 
to interest both cultivated and uncultivated minds. To 
understand descriptive poetry, no previous knowledge 
is required, beyond what common observation and sym- 
pathy supply ;'the analogies and transitions of thought 
are slight and obvious ; no labour of attention is de- 
manded, no active effort of the mind is requisite to fol- 
low them. The pleasures of simple sensation are, by 
descriptive poetry, recalled to the imagination ; and we 
live over again our past lives without increasing, and 

* As this page was sent over to us for correction, we seize the 
opportunity of expressing our wish, that " Botanical Dialogues, by 
a Lady," had come sooner to our hands ; it contains much that we 
think pecuharly valuable. 

M 3 



274 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

without desiring to increase, our stock of knowledge. 
If these observations be just, there must appear many 
reasons why even that species of poetry whichi they can 
understand, should not be the early study of children; 
from time to time it may be an agreeable amusement, but 
it should not become a part of their daily occupations. 
We do not want to retrace perpetually in their mem- 
ories a few musical words, or a few simple sensations ; 
our object is to enlarge the sphere of our pupil's ca- 
pacity, to strengthen the habits of attention, and to ex- 
ercise all the powers of the mind. The inventive and 
the reasoning faculties must be injured by the repetition 
of vague expressions, and of exaggerated description, 
with which most poetry abounds. Childhood is the 
season for observation, and those w-ho observe ac- 
curately will afterward be able to describe accurately : 
but those who merely read descriptions, can present us 
with nothing but the pictures of pictures. We have 
reason to believe that children who have not been 
accustomed to read a vast deal of poetry are not, for 
that reason, less likely to excel in poetic language. 
The reader will judge from the following explanation of 
Gray's Hymn to Adversity, that the boy to whom they 
were addressed was not much accustomed to read even 
the most popular English poetry; yet this is the same 
child who, a few months afterward, wrote the transla- 
tion from Ovid of the Cave of Sleep, and who gave 
the extempore description of a summer's evening in 
tolerably good language. 

Jan. 1796. S (nine years old) learned by heart 

the Hymn to Adversity. When he came to repeat this 
poem, he did not repeat it well, and he had it not per- 
fectly by heart. His father suspected that he did not 
understand it, and he examined him with some care. 

Father. " Purple tyrants !" Why purple ? 

8 . Because purple is a colour something like red 

and black ; and tyrants look red and black. 

Father. No. Kings were formerly called tyrants, and 
they wore purple robes : the purple of the ancients is 
supposed to be not the colour which we call purple, but 
that which we call scarlet. 

" When first thy sire to send on earth 
' Virtue, his darling child, design'd, 

To thee he gave the heavenly birth, 
And bade to form her infant mind." 



BOOKS. 275 

When S was asked who was meant in these lines 

by " thy sire," he frowned terribly ; but after some de- 
liberation, he discovered that " thy sire" meant Jove, 
the father, or sire of Adversity : still he was extremely 
puzzled with "the heavenly birth." First he thought 
that the heavenly birth was the birth of Adversity ; but, 
upon recollection, the heavenly birth was to be trusted 
to Adversity, therefore she could not be trusted with 

the care of herself. S at length discovered, that 

Jove must have had two daughters; and he said he sup- 
posed that Virtue must have been one of these daugh- 
ters, and that she must have been sister to Adversity, 
who was to be her nurse, and who was to form her infant 
mind : he nov/ perceived that the expression, " Stern, 
rugged nurse," referred to Adversity ; before this, he 
said he did not know whom it meant, whose " rigid 
lore" was alluded to in these two lines, or who bore it 
with patience. 

" Stem, rugged nurse, thy rigid lore 
With patience many a year she bore." 

The following stanza S repeated a second time, 

as if he did not understand it. 

" Scared at thy frown terrific fly 
Self-pleashig folUes, idle brood, 
Wild laughter, noise, and thoughtless joy, 
And leave us leisure to be good. 
Light they disperse, and with them go 
The summer friend, the flattering foe ; 
By vain prosperity receiv'd. 
To her they vow their truth, and are again believ'd." 

Father. Why does the poet say wild laughter \ 

8 . It means, not reasonable. 

Father. Why is it said, 

" By vain prosperity receiv'd. 
To her they vow their truth, and are again believ'd ?" 

S . Because the people, I suppose, when they 

were in prosperity before, believed them before ; but 
I think that seems confused. 

" Oh, gently on thy suppliant's head, 
Dread goddess, lay thy chastening hand." 

iS — — did not seem to comprehend the first of these 



276 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

two lines ; and upon cross-examination, it appeared that 
he did not know the meaning of the word suppliant ; he 
thought it meant " a person who suppUes us." 

" Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, 
Nor circled by the vengeful band, 
As by the impious thou art seen." 

It may appear improbable, that a child who did not 
know the meaning of the word suppliant should under- 
stand the Gorgon terrors, and the vengeful band, yet it 

was so : S understood these lines distinctly ; he 

said, " Gorgon terrors, yes, like the head of Gorgon." 
He was at this time translating from Ovid's Metamor- 
phoses ; and it happened that his father had explained 
to him the ideas of the ancients concerning the furies; 
besides this, several people in the family had been read- 
ing Potter's yEschylus, and the furies had been the sub- 
ject of conversation. From such accidental circum- 
stances as these, children often appear, in the same 
instant almost, to be extremely quick and extremely 
slow of comprehension ; a preceptor who is well ac- 
quainted with all his pupil's previous knowledge, can 
rapidly increase his stock of ideas by turning every 
accidental circumstance to account : but if a tutor per- 
sists in forcing a child to a regular course of study, all 
his ideas must be collected, not as they are wanted in 
conversation or in real life, but as they are wanted to 
get through a lesson or a book. It is not surprising, 
that M. Cond iliac found such long explanations neces- 
sary for his young pupil in reading the tragedies of Ra- 
cine ; he says that he was frequently obliged to trans- 
late the poetry into prose, and frequently the prince 
could gather only some general idea of the whole 
drama, without understanding the parts. We cannot 
help regretting, that the explanations have not been 
published for the advantage of future preceptors ; they 
must have been almost as difficult as those for the pre- 
Jiminary lessons. As we are convinced that the art of 
education can be best improved by the registering of 
early experiments, we are very willing to expose such 
as have been made, without fear of fastidious criticism 
or ridicule. 

May 1, 1796. A little poem, called "The Tears of 
Old May-day," published in the second volume of The 
World, was read to S . Last May-day the same 



BOOKS. 277 

poem had been read to him ; he then hked it much, and 
his father wished to see what effect it would have upon 
this second reading. The pleasure of novelty was worn 

oif, but S felt new pleasure from his having, during 

the last year, acquired a great number of new ideas, and 
especially some knowledge of ancient mythology, which 
enabled him to understand several allusions in the poem 
which had before been unintelligible to him. He had 
become acquainted with the muses, the graces, Cynthia, 
Philomel, Astrea, who are all mentioned in thiS poem; 
he now knew something about the Hesperian fruit, Amal- 
thea's horn, choral dances, Libyan Amnion, &c., which 
are alluded to in different lines of the poem : he remem- 
bered the explanation which his father had given him 
the preceding year, of a line which alludes to the island 
of Atalantis : 

" Then vanished many a sea-girt isle and grove, 
Their forests floating on the wat'ry plain : 
Then famed for arts, and laws deriv'd from Jove, 
My Atalantis sunk beneath the main." 

S , whose imagination had been pleased with the 

idea of the fabulous island of Atalantis, recollected what 
he had heard of it ; but he had forgotten the explanation 
of another stanza of this poem, which he had heard at 
the same time : 

" To her no more Augusta's wealthy pride, 
Pours the full tribute from Potosi's mine ; 
Nor fresh-blown garlands \allage maids provide, 
A purer offering at her rustic shrine." 

S forgot that he had been told that London was 

formerly called Augit^ta ; that Poto.si's mines contained 
silver ; and that pouring the tribute from Potosi's mines, 
alludes to the custom of hanging silver tankards upon 
the Maypoles in London on May-day ; consequently 
the beauty of this stanza was entirely lost upon him. 

A few circumstances were now told to S , which 

imprinted the explanation effectually in his memory: 
his father told him that the publicans, or those who 
keep public houses in London, make it a custom to lend 
their silver tankards to the poor chimney-sweepers and 
milkmaids, who go in procession through the streets on 
May-day. The confidence that is put in the honesty of 

these poor people pleased S , and all these circum- 

. stances fixed the principal idea more firmly in his mind. 



278 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

The following lines could please him only by their 
sound, the first time he heard them : 

" Ah ! once to fame and bright dominion born, 
The earth and smiling ocean saw me rise, 
With time coeval, and the star of mom. 
The first, the fairest daughter of the skies. 

" Then, when at heaven's prohfic mandate sprung 
The radiant beam of new-created day. 
Celestial harps, to airs of triumph strung, 
Hail'd the glad dawn, and angels call'd me May. 

" Space in her empty regions heard the sound, 

And hills and dales, and rocks and valleys rung ; 
The sun exulted in his glorious round, 
And shouting planets in their courses sung." 

The idea which the ancients had of the music of the 

spheres was here explained to S , and some general 

UOtion was given to liim of the harmonic numbers. 

What a number of new ideas this little poem served to 
introduce into the mind ! These explanations being 
given precisely at the time when they were wanted, 
fixed the ideas in the memory in their proper places, 
and associated knowledge with the pleasures of poetry. 
Some of the effect of a poem must, it is true, be lost by 
interruptions and explanations ; but we must consider 
the general improvement of the understanding, and not 
merely the cultivation of poetic taste. In the instance 
which we have just given, the pleasure which the boy 
received from the poem seemed to increase in propor- 
tion to the exactness with which it was explained. The 
succeeding year, on May-day, 1797, the same poem was 
read to him for the third time, and he appeared to like 
it better than he had done upon the first reading. If, 
instead of perusing Racine twelve times in one year, the 
young Prince of Parma had read any one play or scene 
at different periods of his education, and had been led to 
observe the increase of pleasure which he felt from 
being able to understand what he read better each suc- 
ceeding time than before, he would probably have im- 
proved more rapidly in his taste for poetry, though he 
might not have known Racine by rote quite so early as 
at eight years old. 

We considered parents almost as much as children, 
when we advised that a great deal of poetry should not 
be read by very young pupils ; the labour and difficulty 
of explaining it can be known only to those who ' 



BOOKS. 279 

tried the experiment. The Elegy in a Country Church- 
yard is one of the most popular poems which is usually 
given to children to learn by heart ; it cost at least a 
quarter of an hour to explain to intelligent children, the 
youngest of whom was at the time nine years old, the 
first stanza of that elegy. And we have heard it asserted 
by a gentleman not unacquainted with literature, that 
perfectly to understand I'Allegro and 11 Penseroso, re- 
quires no inconsiderable portion of ancient and modern 
knowledge. It employed several hours on different 
days to read and explain Comus, so as to make it intelli- 
gible to a boy of ten years, who gave his utmost atten- 
tion to it. The explanations on this poem were found 
to be so numerous and intricate, that we thought it best 
not to produce them here. Explanations which are 
given by a reader, can be given with greater rapidity 
and effect, than any which a writer can give to children : 
the expression of the countenance is advantageous, the 
sprightliness of conversation keeps the pupils awake, 
and the connexion of the parts of the subject can be 
carried on better in speaking and reading, than it can 
be in written explanations. Notes are almost always 
too formal or too obscure ; they explain what was 
understood more plainly before any illustration was 
attempted, or they leave us in the dark the moment we 
want to be enlightened. Wherever parents or precept- 
ors can supply the place of notes and commentators, 
they need not think their time ill bestowed. If they 
cannot undertake these troublesome explanations, they 
can surely reserve obscure poems for a later period of 
their pupils' education. Children who are taught at 
seven or eight years old to repeat poetry, frequently get 
beautiful lines by rote, and speak them fluently, without 
in the least understanding the meaning of the lines. 
The business of a poet is to please the imagination and 
to move the passions : in proportion as his language is 
sublime or pathetic, witty or satirical, it must be unfit 
for children. Knowledge cannot be detailed, or accu- 
rately explained, in poetry ; the beauty of an allusion 
depends frequently upon the .elliptical mode of expres- 
sion, which, passing imperceptibly over all the interme- 
diate links in our associations, is apparent only when it 
touches the ends of the chain. Those who wish to 
instruct must pursue the opposite system. 
In Doctor Wilkins's Essay on Universal Language, he 



280 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

proposes to introduce a note similar to the common note 
of admiration, to give the reader notice when any ex- 
pression is used in an ironical or in a metaphoric sense. 
Such a note would be of great advantage to children : 
in reading poetry, they are continually puzzled between 
the obvious and the metaphoric sense of the words.* 
The desire to make children learn a vast deal of poetry 
by heart, fortunately for the understanding of the rising 
generation, does not rage with such violence as formerly. 
Dr. Johnson successfully laughed at infants lisping out, 
"Angels and ministers of grace, defend us." His 
reproof was rather illnatured, when he begged two chil- 
dren who were produced to repeat some Hues to him, 
" Can't the pretty dears repeat them both together V 
But this reproof has probably prevented many exhibi- 
tions of the same kind. 

Some people learn poetry by heart for the pleasure 
of quoting it in conversation ; but the talent for quota- 
tion, both in conversation and in writing, is now become 
so common, that it cannot confer immortality. f Every 
person has by rote certain passages from Shakspeare 
and Thomson, Goldsmith and Gray : these trite quota- 
tions fatigue the literary ear, and disgust the taste of 
the public. To this change in the fashion of the day, 
those who are influenced by fashion will probably listen 
with more eagerness than to all the reasons that have 
been off'ered. But to return to the Prince of Parma. 
After reading Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, &c., 
the young prince's taste was formed, as we are assured 
by his preceptor, and he was now fit for the study of 
grammar. So much is due to the benevolent intentions 
of a man of learning and genius, who submits to the 
drudgery of writing an elementary book on grammar, 
that even a critic must feel unwilling to examine it with 
severity. M. Condillac, in his attempt to write a ra- 
tional grammar, has produced, if not a grammar fit for 
children, a philosophical treatise, which a well-educated 
young person will read with great advantage at the age 
of seventeen or eighteen. All that is said of the natu- 

* hi Dr. Franklin's posthumous Essays, there is an excellent re- 
mark with respect to typography, as connected with the art of read- 
mg. The note of interrogation should be placed at the beginning, as 
well as at the end of a question ; it is sometimes so far distant as to 
be out of the reach of an unpractised eye. 

t Young. 



BOOKS. 281 

ral language of signs, of the language of action, of 
pantomimes, and of the institution of M. I'Abbe TEpee 
for teaching languages to the deaf and dumb, is not only- 
amusing and instructive to general readers, but, with 
slight alterations in the language, might be perfectly 
adapted to the capacity of children. But when the 
Abbe Condillac goes on to " Your highness knows 
what is meant by a system," he immediately forgets 
his pupil's age. The reader's attention is presently 
deeply engaged by an abstract disquisition on the rela- 
tive proportion, represented by various circles of dif- 
ferent extent, of the wants, ideas, and language of 
savages, shepherds, commercial and polished nations, 
when he is suddenly awakened to the recollection, that 
all this is addressed to a child of eight years old : an 
allusion to the prince's little chair completely rouses 
us from our revery. 

" As your little chair is made in the same form as 
mine, which is higher, so the system of ideas is funda- 
mentally the same among savage and civilized nations ; 
it diifers only in degrees of extension, as, after one and 
the same model, seats of different heights have been 
made."* 

Such mistakes as these, in a work intended for a 
child, are so obvious, that they could not have escaped 
the penetration of a great man, had he known as much 
of the practice as he did of the theory of the art of 
teaching. 

To analyze a thought, and to show the construction 
of language, M. Condillac, in this volume on grammar, 
has chosen for an example a passage from an Eloge on 
Peter Corneille, pronounced before the French academy 
by Racine, on the reception of Thomas Corneille, who 
succeeded to Peter. It is in the French style of aca- 
demical panegyric, a representation of the chaotic state 
in which Corneille found the French theatre, and of the 
light and order which he diffused through the dramatic 
world by his creative genius. A subject less interest- 
ing, or more unintelligible to a child, could scarcely 

* " Comme votre petite chaise est faite sur le meme modele que la 
mienne, qui est plus elevee, ainsi le systeme des idees est le m^me 
pour le fond chez les peuples sauvages et chez les peuplcs civilises ; 
il ne differe, que parce qu'il est plus ou moiiis etendu ; c'est un 
meme modele d'apr^.s lequel on a fait des sieges de different hauteur." 
— Grammaire, p. 23. 



282 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

have been selected. The lecture on the anatomy of 
Racine's thought lasts through fifteen pages; accord- 
ing to all the rules of art, the dissection is ably per- 
formed ; but most children will turn from the operation 
with disgust. 

The Abbe Condillac's treatise on the art of writing 
immediately succeeds to his grammar. The examples 
in this volume are much better chosen ; they are in- 
teresting to all readers ; those especially from Madame 
de Sevigne's letters, which are drawn from familiar 
language and domestic life. The enumeration of the 
figures of speech, and the classification of the flowers 
of rhetoric, are judiciously suppressed ; the catalogue 
of the different sorts of tums^ phrases proper for maxims 
and principles, turns proper for sentiment, ingenious 
turns and quaint turns, stiff turns and easy turns, might 
perhaps have been somewhat abridged. The observa- 
tions on the effect of unity in the whole design, and in 
all the subordinate parts of a work, though they may 
not be new, are ably stated ; and the remark, that the 
utmost propriety of language, and the strongest effect 
of eloquence and reasoning, result from the greatest 
possible attention to the connexion of our ideas, is im- 
pressed forcibly upon the reader throughout this work. 

How far works of criticism in general are suited to 
children, remains to be considered. Such works can- 
not probably suit their taste, because the taste for sys- 
tematic criticism cannot arise in the mind until many 
books have been read ; until the various species of ex- 
cellence suited to different sorts of composition have 
been perceived, and until the mind has made some 
choice of its own. It is true, that works of criticism 
may teach children to talk well of what they read ; they 
will be enabled to repeat what good judges have said of 
books. But this is not, or ought not to be the object.. 
After having been thus ofliciously assisted by a con- 
nois§eur, who points out to them the beauties of authors, 
wiR they be able afterward to discover beauties with- 
out his assistance 1 Or have they as much pleasure in 
being told what to admire, what to praise, and what to 
blame, as if they had been suffered to feel and to ex- 
press their own feelings naturally 1 In reading an in- 
teresting play, or beautiful poem, how often has a man 
of taste and genius execrated the impertinent commen- 
tator, who interrupts him by obtruding his ostentatious 



BOOKS. 2S3 

notes — " The reader will observe the beauty of this 
thought." — " This is one of the finest passages in any 
author, ancient or modern." — "The sense of this line, 
which all former annotators have mistaken, is obviously 
restored by the addition of the vowel i," &c. 

Deprived, by these anticipating explanations, of the 
use of his own common sense, the reader detests the 
critic, soon learns to disregard his references, and to 
skip over his learned truisms. Similar sensations, 
tempered by duty or by fear, may have been some- 
times experienced by a vivacious child, who, eager to 
go on with what he is reading, is prevented from feel- 
ing the effect of the whole, by a premature discussion 
of its parts. We hope that no keen hunter of paradoxes 
will here exult in having detected us in a contradiction : 
we are perfectly aware, that but a few pages ago, we 
exhibited examples of detailed explanations of poetry 
for children ; but these explanations were not of the 
criticising class ; they were not designed to tell young 
people what to admire, but simply to assist them to un- 
derstand before they admired. 

Works of criticism are sometimes given to pupils, 
with the idea that they will instruct and form them in 
the art of writing : but few things can be more terrific 
or dangerous to the young writer than the voice of re- 
lentless criticism. Hope stimulates, but fear depresses 
the active powers of the mind ; and how much have 
they to fear who have continually before their eyes 
the mistakes and disgrace of others ; of others, who 
with superior talents have attempted and failed ! With 
a multitude of precepts and rules of rhetoric full in 
their memory, they cannot express the simplest of their 
thoughts ; and to write a sentence composed of mem- 
bers which have each of them names of many syllables, 
must appear a most formidable and presumptuous un- 
dertaking. On the contrary, a child who, in books and 
in conversation, has been used to hear and to speak 
correct language, and who has never been terrified with 
the idea, that to write is to express his thoughts in some 
new and extraordinary manner, will naturally write as 
he speaks and as he thinks. Making certain characters 
upon paper, to represent to others what he wishes to say* 
to them, will not appear to him a matter of dread and 

* Rousseau. 



284 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

danger, but of convenience and amusement ; and he will 
write prose without knowing it. 

Among some " Practical Essays,"* lately published, 
" to assist the exertions of youth in their literary pur- 
suits," there is an essay on letter-writing, which might 
deter a timid child from ever undertaking such an ardu- 
ous task as that of writing a letter. So much is said 
from Blair, from Cicero, from Quintilian ; so many 
things are requisite in a letter ; purity, neatness, sim- 
plicity ; such caution must be used to avoid " exotics 
transplanted from foreign languages, or raised in the 
hotbeds of affectation and conceit ;" such attention to 
the mother-tongue is prescribed, that the young nerves 
of the letter-writer must tremble when he takes up his 
pen. Besides, he is told that " he should be extremely 
reserved on the head of pleasantry," and that '• as to 
sallies of wit, it is still more dangerous to let them fly 
at random ; but he may repeat the smart sayings of 
others if he will, or relate part of some droll adventure 
to enliven his letter." 

The anxiety that parents and tutors frequently ex- 
press to have their children write letters, and good let- 
ters, often prevents the pupils from writing during the 
whole course of their lives. Letter-writing becomes a 
task and an evil to children ; whether they have any 
thing to say or not, write they must, this post or next, 
without fail, a pretty letter to some relation or friend, 
who has exacted from them the awful promise of 
punctual correspondence. * It is no wonder that school- 
boys and school-girls, in these circumstances, feel that 
necessity is not the mother of invention ; they are re- 
duced to the humiliating misery of begging from some 
old practitioner a beginning or an ending, and some- 
thing to say to fill up the middle. 

Locke humorously describes the misery of a school- 
boy who is to write a theme; and having nothing to 
say, goes about with the usual petition in these cases 
to his companions, " Pray give me a little sense." 
Would it not be better to wait until children have sense, 
before we exact from them themes and discourses upon 
literary subjects ] There is no danger that those who 
acquire a variety of knowledge and nunierous ideas, 
should not be able to find words to express them ; but 

* Milne's Wellbred Scholar. 



BOOKS. 285 

those who are compelled to find words before they have 
ideas, are in a melancholy situation. To form a style 
is but a vague idea ; practice in composition will cer- 
tainly confer ease in writing, upon those who write 
when their minds are full of ideas ; but the practice of 
sitting, with a melancholy face, with pen in hand, wait- 
ing for inspiration, will not much advance the pupil in 
the art of writing. We should not reconmiend it to a 
preceptor to require regular themes at stated periods 
from his pupils ; but whenever he perceives that a 
young man is struck with any new ideas or new cir- 
cumstances, when he is certain that his pupil has ac- 
quired a fund of knowledge, when he finds in conversa- 
tion that words flow readily upon certain subjects, he 
may, without danger, upon these subjects, excite his 
pupil to try his powers of writing. These trials need 
not be frequently made : when a young man has once 
acquired confidence in himself as a writer, he will cer- 
tainly use his talent whenever proper occasions present 
themselves. The perusal of the best authors in the 
English language will give him, if he adhere to these 
alone, sufficient powers of expression. The best authors 
in the English language are so well known, that it would 
be useless to enumerate them. Dr. Johnson says, that 
whoever would acquire a pure English style, must give 
his days and nights to Addison. We do not, however, 
feel this exclusive preference for Addison's melodious 
periods : his page is ever elegant, but sometimes it is 
too diffuse. Hume, Blackstone, and Smith, have a 
proper degree of strength and energy combined with 
their elegance. Gibbon says, that the perfect com- 
position and well-turned periods of Dr. Robertson, ex- 
cited his hopes that he might one day become his equal 
in writing; but "the calm philosophy, the careless, 
inimitable beauties of his friend and rival Hume, often 
forced him to close the volume with a mixed sensation 
of delight and despair." From this testimony we may 
judge, that a simple style appears to the best judges to 
be more difficult to attain, and more desirable, than that 
highly ornamented diction to which writers of inferior 
taste aspire. Gibbon tells us with great candour, that 
his friend Hume advised him to beware of the rhetorical 
style of French eloquence. Hume observed, that the 
English language and English taste do not admit of 
this profusion of ornament. 



286 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Without meaning to enter at large into the subject, 
we have oflered these remarks upon style for the ad- 
vantage of those who are to direct the taste of young 
readers; what they admire when they read, they will 
probably imitate when they write. We objected to 
works of criticism for young children, — but we should 
observe, that at a later period of education, they will be 
found highly advantageous. It would be absurd to mark 
the precise age at which Blair's Lectures or Condillac's 
Art d'Ecrire ought to be read, because this should be 
decided by circumstances ; by the progress of the pupils 
in literature, and by the subjects to which their atten- 
tion happens to have turned. Of these, preceptors, and 
the pupils themselves, must be the most competent 
judges. From the same wish to avoid all pedantic at- 
tempts to dictate, we have not given any regular course 
of study in this chapter. Many able writers have laid 
down extensive plans of study, and have named the 
books that are essential to the acquisition of different 
branches of knowledge. Among others we may refer 
to Dr. Priestley's, which is to be seen at the end of his 
Essays on Education. We are sensible that order is 
necessary in reading, — but we cannot think that the 
same order will suit all minds, nor do we imagine that a 
young person cannot read to advantage unless he pur- 
sue a given course of study. Men of sense will not be 
intolerant in their love of learned order. 

If parents would keep an accurate list of the books 
which their children read, of the ages at which they are 
read, it would be of essential service in improving the 
art of education. We might then mark the progress of 
the understanding with accuracy, and discover, with 
some degree of certainty, the circumstances on which 
the formation of the character and taste depends. Swift 
has given us a list of the books which he read during 
two years of his life ; we can trace the ideas that he 
acquired from them in his Laputa, and other parts of 
Gulliver's Travels. Gibbtm's journal of his studies, and 
his account of universities, are very instructive to young 
students. So is the life of Franklin, written by himself. 
Madame Roland has left a history of her education ; and 
in the books she read in her early years, we see the for- 
mation of her character. Plutarch's Lives, she tells us, 
first kindled republican entlmsiasm in her mind ; and 
she regrets that, in fornnng her ideas of universal hb- 



GRAMMAR, ETC. "287 

erty, she had only a partial view of affairs. She cor- 
rected these enthusiastic ideas during tlie last moments 
of her life in prison. Had the impression which her 
study of the Roman history made upon her mind been 
known to an able preceptor, it might liave been cor- 
rected in her early education. When she was led to 
execution, she exclaimed, as she passed the statue of 
Liberty, " Oh Liberty, what crimes are committed in 
thy name !"'* 

Formerly it was wisely said, " Tell me what company 
a man keeps, and I will tell you what he is ;" but since 
literature has spread a new influence over the world, we 
must add, " Tell me what company a man has kept, 
and what books he has read, and I will tell you what 
he is." 



CHAPTER XHL 

ON GRAMMAR AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 

As long as gentlemen feel a deficiency in their own 
education, when they have not a competent knowledge 
of the learned languages, so long must a parent be anx- 
ious that his son should not be exposed to the mortifica- 
tion of appearing inferior to others of his own rank. It 
is in vain to urge that language is only the key to sci- 
ence ; that the names of things are not the things them- 
selves ; that many of the words in our own language 
convey scarcely any, or at best but imperfect, ideas ; 
that the true genius, pronunciation, melody, and idiom 
of Greek, are unknown to the best scholars, and that it 
cannot reasonably be doubted that if Homer and Xeno- 
phon were to hear their works read by a professor of 
Greek, they would mistake them for the sounds of an 
unknown language. All this is true ; but it is not the 
ambition of a gentleman to read Greek like an ancient 
Grecian, but to understand it as well as the generality 
of his contemporaries ; to know whence the terms of 

* "Oh Liberie, que de forfaits on commis eii ton nom !" 

See Appel a I'lmpartielle Posterite. 



288 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

most sciences are derived, and to be able, in some de- 
gree, to trace the progress of mankind in knowledge and 
refinement, by examining the extent and combination 
of their different vocabularies. 

In some professions Greek is necessary ; in all, a cer- 
tain proficiency in Latin is indispensable ; how, there- 
fore, to acquire this proficiency in the one, and a suffi- 
cient knowledge of the other, with the least labour, the 
least waste of time, and the least danger to the under- 
standing, is the material question. Some schoolmasters 
would add, that we must expedite the business as much 
as possible : of this we may be permitted to doubt. 
Fesiina lente is one of the most judicious maxims in edu- 
cation ; and those who have sufficient strength of mind 
to adhere to it, will find themselves at the goal, when 
their competitors, after all their bustle, are panting for 
breath or lashing their restive steeds. We see some 
untutored children start forward in learning with rapid- 
ity : they seem to acquire knowledge at the very time 
it is wanted, as if by intuition ; while others, with whom 
infinite pains have been taken, continue in dull igno- 
rance ; or, having accumulated a mass of learning, are 
utterly at a loss how to display or how to use their 
treasures. What is the reason of this phenomenon 1 
and to which class of children would a parent wish his 
son to belong ? In a certain number of years, after hav- 
ing spent eight hours a day in " durance vile," by the in- 
fluence of bodily fear, or by the infliction of bodily pun- 
ishment, a regiment of boys may be drilled by an indefat- 
igable usher into what are called scholars; but perhaps 
in the whole regiment, not one shall ever distinguish 
himself, or ever emerge from the ranks. Can it be ne- 
cessary to spend so many years, so many of the best 
years of life, in toil and misery ] We shall calculate the 
waste of time which arises from the study of ill-written, 
absurd, grammar and exercise-books ; from the habits 
of idleness contracted by schoolboys, and from the cus- 
tom of allowing holydays to young students ; and we 
shall compare the result of this calculation with the 
time really necessary for the attainment of the same 
quantity of classical knowledge by rational methods. 
We do not enter into this comparison with any invidious 
intention, but simply to quiet the apprehensions of pa- 
rents ; to show them the possibility of their children's 
attaining a certain portion of learning within a given 



GHAMMAF, ETC. *289 

number of years, without the sacrifice of health, happi- 
ness, or the general powers of the understanding'. 

At all events, may we not begin by imploring the as- 
sistance of some able and friendly hand to reform the 
present generation of grammars and school-books ] For 
instance, is it indispensably necessary that a boy of 
seven years old should learn by rote that " relative sen- 
tences are independent, i. e. no word in a relative sen- 
tence is governed either of verb or adjective that stands 
in another sentence, or depends upon any appertenances 
of the relative ; and that the English word ' That' is 
always a relative when it may be turned into which in 
good sense, which must be tried by reading over the 
English sentence icarily, and judging how the sentence 
will bear it ; but when it cannot be altered, salvo sensu, 
it is a conjunction!" Cannot we, for pity's sake, to as- 
sist the learner's memory, and to improve his intellect, 
substitute some sentences a little more connected, and 
perhaps a little more useful, than the following? 

" 1 have been a soldier — You have babbled — Has the 
crow ever looked white"? — Ye have exercised — Flowers 
have withered — We were in a passion — Ye lay dov/n — 
Peas were parched — The lions did roar awhile ago." 

In a book of Latin exercises,* the preface to which 
informs us that " it is intended to contain such precepts 
of morality and religion as ought most industriously to 
be mculcated into the heads of all learners, contrived 
so as that children may, as it were, insensibly suck in 
such principles as will be of use to them afterward in 
the manly conduct and ordering of their lives," we might 
expect somewhat more of pure morality and sense, with 
rather more elegance of style, than appear in the follow- 
ing sentences : — 

" I struck my sister with a stick, and was forced to 
flee into the woods ; but when I had tarried there 
awhile, I returned to my parents, and submitted myself 
to their mercy, and they forgave me my offence." 

" When my dear mother, unknown to my father, shall 
send me money, I will pay my creditors their debts, and 
provide a supper for all my friends in my chamber, with- 
out my brother's consent, and will make presents to all 
my relations." 

So the measure of maternal tenderness is the sum of 

* Garretson's Exercises, the tenth edition. 

N 



290 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

money which the dear mother, unknown to her husband, 
shall send to her son ; the measure of the son's generos- 
ity is the supper he is to give to all his friends in his 
chamber, exclusive of his poor brother, of whose ofl'ence 
■we are ignorant. His munificence is to be displayed 
in making presents to all his relations — but in the mean- 
time he might possibly forget to pay his debts, for "jus- 
tice is a slow-paced virtue, and cannot keep pace with 
generosity." 

A reasonable notion of punishment, and a disinter- 
ested love of truth, are well introduced by the follow- 
ing picture ; " My master's countenance was greatly 
changed when he found his beloved son guilty of a lie. 
Sometimes he was pale with anger ; sometimes he was 
red with rage ; and in the meantime, he, poor boy, was 
trembling (for what 1) for fear of punishment." Could 
the ideas of punishment and vengeance be more effect- 
ually joined, than in this portrait of the master red with 
rage 1 After truth has been thus happily recommended, 
comes honesty. " Many were fellow-soldiers with val- 
iant Jason when he stole the golden fleece ; many were 
companions with him, but he bore away the glory of the 
enterprise." 

Valour, theft, and glory, are here happily combined. 
It will avail us nothing to observe that the golden fleece 
has an allegorical meaning, unless we can explain satis- 
factorily the nature of an allegorical theft ; though to . 
our classical taste this valiant Jason may appear a glori- 
ous hero, yet, to the simple judgment of children, he will 
appear a robber. It is fastidious, however, to object to 
Jason in the exercise-book, when we consider what 
children are to hear, and to hear with admiration, as 
they advance in their study of poetry and mythology. 

Lessons of worldly wisdom are not forgotten in our 
manual, wliich professes to teach " the manly conduct and 
ordering oflife'^ to the rising generation. " Those men," 
we are told, " who have the most money, obtain the 
greatest honour among men." But then again, " a poor 
man is as happy without riches, if he can enjoy con- 
tentedness of mind, as the richest earl that coveteth 
greater honour." It may be useful to put young men 
upon their guard against hypocrites and knaves ; but is 
it necessary to tell schoolboys that " it concerneth me, 
and all men, to look to ourselves, for the world is so full 
of knaves and hypocrites, that he is hard to be found 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 291 

who may be trusted V That " they who behave them- 
selves the most warily of all men, unci live more watch- 
fully than others, may happen to do something which 
(if it be divulged) may very much damnify their reputa- 
tion?" A knowledge of the world may be early re- 
quisite ; but is it not going too far to assure young 
people, that " the nations of the world are at this time 
come to that pass of wickedness, that the earth is 
like hell, and many men have degenerated into devils." 

A greater variety of ridiculous passages from this 
tenth edition of Garretson's Exercise-book, might be 
selected for the reader's entertainment ; but the follow- 
ing specimens will be sufRcient to satisfy him, that by 
this original writer, natural history is as well taught as 
morality : 

Man. " Man is a creature of an upright body ; he 
walketh upright when he is on a journey; and when 
night approaches, he lieth flat, and sleepeth," 

Horses. " A journey an hundred and fifty miles long, 
tireth a horse that hath not had a moderate feed of corn." 

Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. " The air is nearer 
the earth than the fire ; but the water is placed nearest 
to the earth, because these two elements compose but 
one body." 

It is an easy task, it will be observed, to ridicule ab- 
surdity. It is easy to pull down what has been ill built ; 
but if we leave the ruins for others to stumble over, we 
do little good to society. Parents may reasonably say, 
if you take away from our children the books they 
have, give them better. They are not yet to be had ; 
but if a demand for them be once excited, they will soon 
appear. Parents are now convinced, that the first books 
which children read make a lasting impression upon 
them ; but they do not seem to consider spelling-books, 
and grammars, and exercise-books, as books, but only 
as tools for different purposes : these tools are often 
very mischievous ; if we could improve them, we should 
get our work much better done. The barbarous trans- 
lations which are put as models for imitation into the 
hands of schoolboys, teach them bad habits of speaking 
and writing, which are sometimes incurable. For in- 
stance, in the fourteenth edition of Clarke's Cornelius 
Nepos, which the preface informs us was written by a 
man full of indignation for the common practices of 
grammar-schools, by a man who laments that youth 
N2 



292 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

should spend their time " in tossing over the leaves of 
a dictionary, and hammering out such a language as the 
Latin," we might expect some better translation than 
the following, to form the young student's style : 

" Nobody ever heard any other entertainment for the 
ears at his (Atticus's) meals than a reader, which we 
truly think very pleasant. Nor was there ever a supper 
at his house without some reading, that their guests 
might be entertained in their minds as well as their 
stomachs ; for he invited those whose manners were not 
different from his own." 

" He (Atticus) likewise had a touch at poetry, that he 
might not be unacquainted with this pleasure, we sup- 
pose. For he has related in verses the lives of those 
who excelled the Roman people in honour, and the 
greatness of their exploits. So that he has described 
under each of their images, their actions and offices in 
no more than four or five verses, ivhich is scarcely to be 
believed that such great things could be so briefly de- 
livered." 

Those who, in reading these quotations, have perhaps 
exclaimed, " Why must we go through this farrago of 
nonsense 1" should reflect, that they have now wasted 
but a few minutes of their time upon what children are 
doomed to study for hours and years. If a few pages 
disgust, what must be the eff'ect of volumes in the same 
style ! and what sort of writing can we expect from pu- 
pils who are condemned to such reading 1 The analogy 
of ancient and modern languages diff'ers so materially, 
that a literal translation of any ancient author can 
scarcely be tolerated. Yet, in general, young scholars 
are under a necessity of rendering their Latin lessons 
into English word for word, faithful to the taste of their 
dictionaries, or the notes in their translations. This is 
not likely to improve the freedom of their English 
style ; or, what is of much more consequence, is it 
likely to preserve in the pupil's mind a taste for litera- 
ture 1 It is not the time that is spent in poring over 
lexicons, it is not the multiplicity of rules learned by 
rote, nor yet is it the quantity of Latin words crammed 
into the memory, which can give the habit of attention 
or the power of voluntary exertion ; without these, you 
will never have time enough to teach ; with them, there 
will always be time enough to learn. — One half hour's 
vigorous application is worth a whole day's constrained 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 293 

and yawning study. If we compare what from experi- 
ence we know can be done by a child of ordinary 
capacity in a given time, with what he actually does in 
school-hours, we shall be convinced of the enormous 
waste of time incident to the connnon methods of in- 
struction. Tutors are sensible of this ; but they throw 
the blame upon their pupils — " You might have learned 
your lesson in half the time, if you had chosen it." 
The children also are sensible of this ; but they are not 
able or willing to prevent the repetition of the reproach. 
But exertion does not always depend upon the will of 
the boy ; it depends upon his previous habits, and upon 
the strength of the immediate motive which acts upon 
him. Some children of quick abilities, who have too 
much time allotted for their classical studies, are so 
fully sensible themselves of the pernicious effect this 
has upon their activity of mind, that they frequently de- 
fer getting their lessons to the last moment, that they 
may be forced by a sufficient motive to exert themselves. 
In classes at public schools, the quick and the slow, the 
active and indolent, the stumbling and surefooted, are 
all yoked together, and are forced to keep pace with one 
another; stupidity may sometimes be dragged along by 
the vigour of genius ; but genius is more frequently 
chained down by the weight of stupidity. We are well 
aware of the difficulties with which the'public preceptor 
has to contend ; he is often compelled by his situation 
to follow ancient usage, and to continue many customs 
which he wishes to see reformed. Any reformation in 
the manner of instruction in these public seminaries 
nuist be gradual, and will necessarily follov/ the convic- 
tion that parents may feel of its utility. Perhaps 
nothing can be immediately done, more practicably use- 
ful, than to simplify grammar, and to lighten as much as 
possible the load that is laid upon the memory. With- 
out a multiplicity of masters, it would be impossible to 
suit instruction to the different capacities and previous 
acquirements of a variety of pupils ; but in a private 
education, undoubtedly, the task may be rendered much 
easier to the scholar and to the teacher ; much jargon 
maybe omitted; and what appears from want of ex- 
planation to be jargon, may be rendered intelligible by 
proper skill and attention. During the first lessons in 
grammar and in Latin, the pupil need not be disgusted 
with literature, and we may apply all the principles 



294 PRACTICAL EDUCA'noN. 

which we find on other occasions successful in the man- 
agement of the attention.* Instead of keeping the 
attention feebly obedient for an idle length of time, we 
should fix it decidedly, by some sufllcient motive, for as 
short a period as may be requisite to complete the work 
that we would have done. As we apprehend, that even 
where children are to be sent to school, it will be a great 
advantage to them to have some general notions of 
grammar to lead them through the labyrinth of com- 
mon school-books, we think that we shall do the public 
preceptor an acceptable service, if we point out the 
means by which parents may, without much labour to 
themselves, render the first principles of grammar hi- 
telligible and familiar to their children. 

We may observe, that children pay the strictest atten- 
tion to the analogies of the language that they speak. 
Where verbs are defective or irregular, they supply the 
parts that are wanting with wonderful facility, according 
to the common form of other verbs. They make aU 
verbs regular. I goed, I readerf, I wnied, &:c. By a 
proper application of this faculty, much time may be 
saved in teaching children grammar, much perplexity, 
and much of that ineffectual labour which stupifies and 
dispirits the understanding. By gentle degrees, a child 
may be taught the relations of words to each other in 
common conversation, before he is presented with the 
first sample of grammatical eloquence in Lilly's Acci- 
dence. " There be eight parts of speech." A phrase 
which in some parts of this kingdom would perhaps be 
understood, but which, to the generality of boys who go 
to school, conveys no meaning, and is got by heart with- 
out reflection, and without advantage. A child can, 
however, be made to understand these formidable parts 
of speech, if they are properly introduced to his ac- 
quaintance : he can comprehend, that some of the words 
which he hears express that something is done ; he will 
readily perceive, that if something is done, somebody 
or something must do it : he will distinguish with much 
facility the word in any common sentence which ex- 
presses an action, and that which denotes the agent. 
Let the reader try the experiment immediately upon 
any child of six or seven years old who has not 
learned grammar, and he may easily ascertain the fact. 

* See Chapter on Attention. 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 295 

A few months ago, Mr. gave his little daughter 

H , a child of five years old, her first lesson in Eng- 
lish grammar ; but no alarming book of grammar was 
produced upon the occasion, nor did the father put on an 
unpropitious gravity of countenance. He explained to 
the smiling child the nature of a verb, a pronoun, and a 
substantive. 

Then he spoke a short familiar sentence, and asked 

H to try if she could find out which word in it was 

a verb, which a pronoun, and which a substantive. The 
little girl found them all out most successfully, and 
formed no painful associations with her first grammati- 
cal lesson. But though our pupil may easily under- 
stand, he will eafily forget our first explanations; but 
provided he understands them at the moment, we should 
pardon his forgetfulness, and Vv-e should patiently repeat 
the same exercise several days successively ; a few 
minutes at each lesson will be sufficient, and the sim- 
plest sentences, such as children speak themselves, will 

be the best examples. Mr. , after having talked 

four or five times, for a few minutes at a time, with his 

son S , when S was between five nnd six years 

old, about grammar, asked him if he knew what a pro- 
noun meant] The boy answered, " A word that is said 
instead of a substantive." As these words might have 
been merely remembered by rote, the father questioned 
his pupil farther, and asked him to name any pronoun 
that he recollected. S immediately said, " / a pro- 
noun." — " Name another," said his father. The boy 
answered after some pause, as if he doubted whether it 
was or was not a pronoun, A. Now it would have been 
very imprudent to make a sudden exclamation at the 
child's mistake. The father, without showing any sur- 
prise, gently answered, " No, my dear, a does not stand 
in the place of any substantive. We say a man, but the 
word a does not mean a man, when it is said by itself — 
Does it r' 

^ . No. 

Father. Then try if you can find out a word that does. 

S . He and Sir. 

Sir does stand in conversation in the place of a man 
or gentleman, therefore the boy, even by this mistake, 
showed that he had formed, from the definition that had 
been given to him, a general idea of the nature of a pro- 
noun ; and at all events he exercised his understanding 



296 PRACTICAL EDUCATION'. 

upop. the affair, which is tlie principal point v/e ought to 
have in view. 

An interjection is a part of speech familiar to chil- 
dren. xMr. Home Tooke is bitter in his contempt for it, 
and will scarcely admit it into civilized company. " The 
brutish, inarticulate interjection, which has nothing to 
do with speech, and is only the miserable refuge of the 
speechless, has been permitted to usurp a place among 
words," &c. — " The neighing of a horse, the lowing of a 
cow, the barking of a dog, the purring of a cat ; sneez- 
ing, coughing, groaning, shrieking, and every other in- 
voluntary convulsion with oral sound, have almost as 
good a title to be called parts of speech, as interjections 
have." 

Mr. Home Tooke would have been pleased with the 

sagacity of a child of five years old (S ) who called 

laughing an interjection. Mr. gave S a slight 

pinch, in order to produce " an involuntary convulsion 
with oral sound."' And when the interjection Oh ! was 
uttered by the boy, he was told by his father that the 
word was an interjection ; and, that " any word or noise 
that expresses a sudden feeling of tlie mind may be 

called an interjection." S immediately said, "is 

laughing an interjection, thenV We hope that the 
candid reader will not imagine that we produce these 
sayings of children of four or five years old, without 
some sense of the danger of ridicule ; but we wish to 
give some idea of the sort of simple answers which 
children are likely to make in their first grammatical 
lessons. If too much is expected from them, the dis- 
appointment which must be quickly felt, and will be 
quickly shown by the preceptor, will discourage the 
pupil. We must repeat, that the first steps should be 
frequently retraced : a child should be for some weeks 
accustomed to distinguish an active verb, and its agent, 
or nominative case, from every other word in a sen- 
tence, before we attempt to advance. The objects of 
actions are the next class of words that should be se- 
lected. 

The fanciful, or at least what appears to the modems 
fanciful, arrangement of the cases among grammarians, 
may be dispensed with for the present. The idea that 
the nominative is a direct, upright case, and that the 
genitive declines with the smallest obliquity from it ; 
the dative, accusative, and ablative, falling farther and 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 297 

farther from the perpendicularity of speech, is a species 
of metaphysics not very edifying to a child. Into what 
absurdity men of abilities may be led by the desire of ex- 
plaining what they do not sufficiently understand, is 
fully exemplified in other sciences as well as grammar. 

The discoveries made by the author of Epea Ptero- 
enta, show the difference between a vain attempt to 
substitute analogy and rhetoric in the place of demon- 
stration and common sense. When a child has been 
patiently taught in conversation to analyze what he says, 
he will take great pleasure in the exercise of his new 
talent ; he will soon discover, that the cause of the ac- 
tion does not always come before the verb in a sentence, 
that sometimes it follows the verb. " John beats 
Thomas," and "Thomas is beaten by John," he will 
perceive, mean the same thing; he may, with very 
little difficulty, be taught the difference between a verb 
active and a verb passive ; that one brings first before 
the mind the person or thing which performs the action, 
and the other represents in the first place the person or 
thing upon whom the action is performed. A child of 
moderate capacity, after he has been familiarized to 
this general idea of a verb active and passive, and after 
he has been taught the names of the cases, will proba- 
bly, without much difficulty, discover that the nomina- 
tive case to a passive verb becomes the accusative case 
to a verb active. " Schoolmasters are plagued by boys." 
A child sees plainly, that schooluiasters are the persons 
upon whom the action of plaguing is performed, and he 
will convert the sentence readily into "boys plague 
schoolmasters." 

We need not, however, be in any hurry to teach our 
pupil the names of the cases ; technical grammar may be 
easily learned after a general idea of rational grammar 
has been obtained. For instance, the verb means only 
the word, or the principal word in a sentence ; a child 
can easily learn this after he has learned what is meant 
by a sentence ; but it would be extremely difficult to 
make him comprehend it before he could distinguish a 
verb from a noun, and before he had any idea of tlie 
structure of a common sentence. From easy, we 
should proceed to more complicated .sentences. The 
grammatical construction of the following lines, for ex- 
ample, may not be immediately apparent to a child ; — 
N3 



298 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

" What modes of sight between each vast extreme, 
The mole's dim curtain, and the lynx's beam ; 
Of smell, the headlong lioness between. 
And hound sagacious on the tainted green." 

" Of smell.''^ A girl of ten years old (C ) was 

asked if she could tell what substantive the word " o/" 

relates to ; she readily answered " modes. ''' C had 

learned a general idea of grammar in conversation, in 
the manner which we have described. It is asserted 
from experience, that this method of instructing chil- 
dren in grammar by conversation, is not only practica- 
ble, but perfectly easy ; and that the minds of children 
are adapted to this species of knowledge. During life, 
we learn with eagerness whatever is congenial with our 
present pursuits, and the acquisition of language is one 
of the most earnest occupations of childhood. After 
distinct and ready knowledge of the verb and nomina- 
tive case has been acquired, the pupil should be taught 
to distinguish the object of an action, or in other words, 
the ol)jective or accusative case. He should be exer- 
cised in this, as in the former lessons, repeatedly, until it 
becomes perfectly familiar; and he should be encour- 
aged to converse about these lessons, and to make his 
own observations concerning grammar, without fear of 
the preceptor's peremptory frown, or positive reference 
to " his rules.'''' A child of five years old was asked what 
the word " Here /" meant 1 — He answered, *' It means to 
give a thing." 

"When I call a person, as John! John! it seems to 

me," said a boy of nine years old (S ) " it seems to 

me, that the vocative case is both the verb and its ac- 
cusative case." A boy who had ever been checked by 
his tutor for making his own observations upon the 
mysterious subject of grammar, would never have dared 
to think or to utter a new thouglit so freely. — Forcing 
children to learn any art or science by rote, without 
permitting the exercise of the understanding, must ma- 
terially injure their powers both of reasoning and of in- 
vention. We acknowledge that Wilkins and Tooke 
have shown masters how to teach gramn)ar a little 
better than it was formerly taught. Fortunately for the 
rising generation, all the words under the denomination 
of adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, which were 
absolute nonsense to us, may be easily explained to 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 299 

them, and the commencement of instruction need no 
longer lay the foundation of implicit acquiescence in 
nonsense. We refer to Mr. Home Tooke's " Epea 
Pteroenta," forbearing to dilate upon the principles of 
his work, lest we should appear in the invidious light of 
authors who rob the works of others to adorn their own. 
We cannot help expressing a wish, that Mr. Home 
Tooke would have the philanthropic patience to write an 
elementary work in a simple style, unfolding his gram- 
matical discoveries to the rising generation. 

When children have thus, by gentle degrees, and by 
short and clear conversations, been initiated in general 
grammar, and familiarized to its technical terms, the 
first page of tremendous Lilly will lose much of its hor- 
ror. It has been taken for granted, that at the age of 
which we have been speaking, a child can read English 
tolerably well, and that he has been used to employ a 
dictionary. He may now proceed to translate from 
some easy books a few short sentences : the first word 
will probably be an adverb or conjunction ; either of 
them may readily be found in the Latin dictionary, and 
the young scholar will exult in having translated one 
word of Latin; but the next word, a substantive or 
verb perhaps, will elude his search. Now the grammar 
may be produced, and something of the various termi- 
nations of a noun may be explained. If musam be 
searched for in the dictionary, it cannot be found ; but 
musa catches the eye, and, with the assistance of the 
grammar, it may be shown, that the meaning of words 
may be discovered by the united helps of the dictionary 
and grammar. After some days' patient continuation of 
this exercise, the use of the grammar, and of its uncouth 
collection of words and syllables, will be apparent to 
the pupil : he will perceive that the grammar is a sort 
of appendix to the dictionary. The grammatical for- 
mulec may then, by gentle degrees, be committed to 
memory ; and when once got by heart, should be assid- 
uously preserved in the recollection. After the prepar- 
ation which we have recommended, the singular num- 
ber of a declension will be learned in a few minutes by 
achild of ordinary capacity, and after two or three days' 
repetition, the plural number may be added. The whole 
of the first declension should be well fixed in the mem- 
ory before a second is attempted. During this process, 
a few words at every lesson may be translated from 



300 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Latin to English, and sucli nouns as are of the first 
declension may be compared witli musa, and may be 
declined according- to the same form. Tedious as this 
method may appear, it will in the end be found expedi- 
tious Omitting some of the theoretic or didactic part 
of the grammar, which should only be read, and which 
may be explained with care and patience, the whole of 
the declensions, pronouns, conjugations, the list of prep- 
ositions and conjunctions, interjections, some adverbs, 
the concords, and common rules of syntax, may be com- 
prised with sufficient repetitions in about two or three 
hundred lessons of ten minutes each ; that is to say, ten 
minutes application of the scholar in the presence of the 
teacher. A young boy should never be set to learn a 
lesson by heart when alone. Forty hours ! Is this te- 
dious? If you are afraid of losing time, begin a few 
months earlier ; but begin when you will, forty hours is 
surely no great waste of time : the whole, or even half 
of this short time, is not spent in the labour of getting 
jargon by rote ; each day some slight advance is made 
in the knowledge of words, and in the knowledge of their 
combinations. What we insist upon is, that nothing 
should be done to disgust the pupil: steady perseverance 
with uniform gentleness, will induce habit ; and nothing 
should ever interrupt the regular return of the daily 
lesson. If absence, business, illness, or any otlier cause, 
prevent the attendance of the teacher, a substitute must 
be appointed ; the idea of relaxation on Sunday, or a 
holyday, shouM never be permitted. In most public 
seminaries above one third, in some nearly one half, of 
the year is permitted to idleness : it is the comparison 
between severe labour and dissipation, that renders 
learning hateful. 

Johnson is made to say by one of his female biogra- 
phers,* that no child loves the person who teaches hint 
Latin; yet the author of this chapter would not take all 
the doctor's fame, and all the lady's wit and riches, in 
exchange for the hourly, unfeigned, unremitting friend- 
ship, which he enjoys with a son who had no other 
master than his father. So far from being laborious or 
troublesome, he has found it an agre-eable employment 
to instruct his children in grammar and the learned lan- 
guages. In the midst of a variety of other occupations, 

* Mrs. Piozzi. 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 301 

half an hour every morning for many years, during the 
time of dressing, has been allotted to the instruction of 
boys of diflTerent ages in languages, and no other time 
has been spent in this employment. Were it asserted 
that these boys made a reasonable progress^ the expres- 
sion would convey no distinct meaning to the reader ; 
we shall therefore mention an experiment tried this 
morning, November 8th, 1796, to ascertain the progress 
of one of these pupils. Without previous study, he 
translated twenty lines of the story of Ceyx and Al- 
cyone, from Ovid, consulting the dictionary only twice: 
he was then desired to translate the passage which he 
had read into English verse ; and in two or three hours 
he produced the following version. Much of the time 
was spent in copying the lines fairly, as this opportunity 
was taken of exciting his attention to writing and spel- 
ling, to associate the habit of application with the pleas- 
ure of voluntary exertion. The curious may, if they 
think it worth their while, see the various readings and 
corrections of the translation (See Chapter on Conversa- 
tion, and anecdotes of Children), which were carefully 
preserved, not as " Curiosities of Literature,'''' but for the 
sake of truth, and with a desire to show that the pupil 
had the patience to correct. A genius may hit ofl' a few 
tolerable lines ; but if a child is willing and able to criti- 
cise and correct what he writes, he shows that he se- 
lects his expressions from choice, and not from chance 
or imitation ; and he gives to a judicious tutor the cer- 
tain promise of future improvement. 

" Far in a vale there lies a cave forlorn, 
Which Phoebus never enters eve or morn ; 
The misty clouds inhale the pitchy ground. 
And twihght lingers all the vale around. 
No watchful cocks Aurora's beams invite ; 
No dogs nor geese, the guardians of the night : 
No flocks nor herds disturb the silent plains ; 
Within the sacred v/alls mute quiet reigns, 
And murmuring Lethe soothing sleep invites ; 
In dreams again the Hying past delights : 
From milky flowers that near the cavern grow, 
Night scatters the collected sleep below." 

S , the boy who made this translation, was just 

ten years old ; he had made but three previous attempts 
m versification ; his reading in poetry had been some 
of Gay's fables, parts of the Minstrel, three odes of Gray, 



302 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

the Elegy in a Country Churchyard, the Tears of Old 
May-day, and parts of the second volume of Dr. Dar- 
win's Botanic Garden ; Dryden's Translations of the 
fable of Ceyx and Alcyone he had never seen ; the 
book had always been locked up. Phcedrus and Ovid's 
Metamorphoses were the whole of his Latin erudition. 
These circumstances are mentioned thus minutely, to 
afford the inquisitive teacher materials for an accurate 
estimate of the progress made by our method of instruc- 
tion. Perhaps most boys of S 's age, in our great 

public seminaries, would, upon a similar trial, be found 
superior. Competition in the art of translation is not 
our object ; our object is to show, that half an hour a 
day, steadily appropriated to grammar and Latin, would 
be sufficient to secure a boy of this age from any dan- 
ger of ignorance in classical learning ; and that the ease 
and shortness of his labour will prevent that disgust, 
which is too often induced by forced and incessant ap- 
plication. We may add, that some attention to the 
manjier in which the pupils repeat their Latin lessons, 
has been found advantageous : as they were never put 
in bodily fear by the impatience of a pedagogue, they 
had leisure and inclination to read and recite, without 
awkward gestures and discordant tones. The whining 
tones and convulsive gestures often contracted by boys 
during the agony of repeating their long lessons, are 
not likely to be advantageous to the rising generation 
of orators. Practice, and the strong motive of emula- 
tion, may, in a public seminary, conquer these bad habits. 
After the pupil has learned to speak ill, he may be 
taught to speak well ; but the chances are against him : 
and why should we have the trouble of breaking bad 
habits ? It is much easier to prevent them. In private 
education, as the preceptor has less chance of curing 
his pupil of the habit of speaking ill, he should be pecu- 
liarly attentive to give the child constant habits of 
speaking and reading well. It is astonishing, that pa- 
rents who are extremely intent upon the education of 
their children, should overlook some of the essential 
means of success. A yoimg man with his head full of 
Latin and law, will make but a poor figure at the bar 
or in Parliament, if he cannot enunciate distinctly, and 
if he cannot speak good English extempore, or produce 
his learning and arguments with grace and propriety. 
It is in vain to expect that a boy should speak well in 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 303 

public, who cannot, ill common conversation, utter three 
connected sentences without a false concord or a pro- 
vincial idiom ; he may be taught with much care and 
cost to speak ti-ipod sentences ;* but bring- the young 
orator to the test, bring him to actual business, rouse 
any of his passions, throw him off his guard, and then 
listen to his language ; he will forget instantly his read- 
ing-master, and all his rules of pronunciation and 
rhetoric, and he will speak the language to which he 
has been most accustomed. No master will then be 
near him to regulate the pitch and tones of his voice. 
We cannot believe that even Caius Gracchus could, 
when he was warmed with passion, listen to Licinius's 
pitchpipe.f Example, and constant attention to their 
manner of speaking in common conversation, we appre- 
hend to be the most certain methods of preparing young 
men for public speakers. Much of the time that is 
spent in teaching boys to walk upon stilts, might be 
more advantageously employed in teaching them to 
walk well without them. It is all very well while the 
pupil is under the protection of his preceptor. The 
actor on the stage is admired while he is elevated by 
the cothurnus ; but young men are not to exhibit their 
oratorical talents always with the advantages of stage 
effect and decorations. We should imagine, that much 
of the diffidence felt by young men of abilities, when 
they first rise to speak in public, may be attributed to 
their immediate perception of the difference between 
scholastic exhibitions and the real business of life ; 
they feel that they have learned to speak two languages, 
which must not, on any account, be mixed together ; 
the one, the vulgar language of common conversation ; 
the other, the refined language of oratorical composi- 
tion : the first they are most inclined to use when they 
are agitated ; and they are agitated when they rise to 
speak before numbers : consequently there is an imme- 
diate struggle between custom and institution. Now, a 
young man, who in common conversation in his own 
family has never been accustomed to hear or to speak 
vulgar or ungrammatical language, cannot possibly ap- 
prehend that he shall suddenly utter ridiculous expres- 
sions ; he knows, that, if he speak at all, he shall at 
[east speak good English ; and he is not afraid, that, if 

* See Blair. f See Plutarclu 



304 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

he be pursued, he shall be obliged to throw away his 
cumbrous stilts. The practice of speaking in public, we 
are sensible, is a great advantage ; but the habit of 
speaking accurately in private is of still greater conse- 
quence : this habit depends upon the early and perse- 
vering care of the parent and the preceptor. There is 
no reason why children should not be made at the same 
time good scholars and good speakers ; nor is there any 
reason v>'hy boys, while they learn to write Latin, 
should be suffered to forget how to write English. 

It would be a great advantage to the young classical 
scholar, if his Latin and English literature were mixed ; 
the taste for ancient authors and for modern literature 
ought to be cultivated at the same time ; and the beau- 
ties of composition, characteristic of different lan- 
guages, should be familiarized to the student. Classi- 
cal knowledge and taste afford sucli continual and inno- 
cent sources of amusement, that we sliould be extremely 
sorry that any of our pupils should not enjoy them in 
their fullest extent ; but we do not include a talent for 
Latin composition among the necessary accomplishments 
of a gentleman. There are situations in life, where 
facility and elegance in writing Latin maybe useful, but 
such situations are not common; when a young man is 
intended for them, he may be trained with more par- 
ticular assiduity to this art ; perhaps for this purpose 
the true Busbyean method is the best. The great Latin 
and Greek scholars of the age have no reason to be 
displeased by the assjrtion, that classical proficiency 
equal to their own is not a necessary accomplishment 
in a gentleman ; if their learning become more rare, it 
may thence become more valuable. We see no reason 
why there should not be Latinists as well as special 
pleaders. 

We have not laid down any course of classical study : 
those who consider the order in which certain authors 
are read, as of material consequence in the education of 
scholars, may consult Milton, Mrs. I\Iacauley, " Milne's 
Wellbred Scholar," &c., where they will find precise 
directions. 

We have lately seen a collection of exercises for 
boys,* which in some measure supplies the defect of 
Mr. Garretson's curious performance. We wish most 

* Valpy's Exercises. 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 305 

earnestly that dictionaries were improved. The author 
of " Steniniata Latinitatis" has conferred an essential 
service on the public ; but still there is wanting: a dic- 
tionary for schools, in which eleg-ant and proper English 
might be substituted for the barbarous translations now 
in use. Such a dictionary could not be compiled, wo 
should think, without an attention to the course of books 
that are most commonly used in schools. The first 
meanings given in the dictionary should suit the first 
authors that a boy reads ; this may probably be a re- 
mote or metaphoric meaning : then the radical word 
should be mentioned ; and it would not cost a master 
any great trouble to trace the genealogy of words to 
the parent stock. 

Corderi is a collection of such mean sentences, and 
uninstructive dialogue, as to be totally unfit for boys. 
Comenius's " Visible World Displayed" is far superior, 
and might, with proper alterations and better prints, 
become a valuable English school-book. Both these 
books were intended for countries where the Latin lan- 
guage was commonly spoken, and consequentl)' they 
are filled with the terms necessary for domestic life and 
conversation ; for this very reason they are not good 
introductions to the classics. Selections from Bailey's 
Phajdrus will be proper for young beginners, upon ac- 
count of the glossary. We prefer this mode of assist- 
ing them with glossaries to the use of translations, be- 
cause they do not induce indolent habits, and yet they 
prevent the pupil from having unnecessary labour. 
Translations always give the pupil more trouble in the 
end than they save in the beginning. The glossary to 
Bailey's Phsedrus, which we have just mentioned, wants 
much to be modernized, and the language requires to 
be improved. Mr. Valpy's " Select Sentences" would 
be much more useful if they had a glossary annexed. 
As they are, they will, however, be useful after Phae- 
drus. Ovid's Metamorphoses, with all its monstrous 
faults, appears to be the best introduction to the Latin 
classics, and to heathen mythology. Norris's Ovid may 
be safely put into the hands of children, as it is a selec- 
tion of the least exceptionable fables. To accustom 
boys to read poetry and prose nearly at the same pe- 
riod, is advantageous. Cornelius Nepos, a crabbed book, 
but useful from its brevity, and from its being a proper 
mtroduction to Grecian and Roman history, may be 



306 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

read nearly at the same time with Ovid's Metamor- 
phoses. After Ovid, the pupil may begin Virgil, post- 
poning some of the Eclogues, and all the Georgics. 

We recommend that some English books should be 
put into the hands of boys while they are going through 
Phaedrus, Ovid, and Cornelius Nepos, which may suit 
with the ideas they acquire from these Latin authors. 
Plutarch's Lives, for instance, will be useful and inter- 
esting. When we mention Plutarch's Lives, we can- 
not help recollecting how many great people have ac- 
knowledged the effect of this book in their early educa- 
tion. Charles the Twelfth, Rousseau, Madame Roland, 
Gibbon, we immediately remember, and we are sure we 
have noticed many others. An abridgment of Plutarch, 
by Mrs. Helme, which we have looked into, appears 
(the preface excepted) to be well written ; and we see 
another abridgment of Plutarch advertised, which we 
hope may prove serviceable : good prints to a Plutarch 
for children, would be very desirable. 

As an English introduction to mythology, we recom- 
mend the first volume of Lord Chesterfield's Letters as 
a most elegant view of heathen mythology. But if 
there be any danger that the first volume should intro- 
duce the remainder of Lord Chesterfield's work to the 
inexperienced reader, we should certainly forbear the 
experiment: it would be far better for a young man 
never to be acquainted with a single heathen deity, than 
to purchase Lord Chesterfield's classical knowledge at 
the hazard of contamination from his detestable system 
of morals. Without his lordship's assistance, Mrs. Mon- 
signy's Mythology can properly initiate the young pupil 
of either sex into the mysteries of ancient fables. The 
notes to Potter's iEschylus are also well suited to our 
purpose. l\\ Dr. Darwin's " Botanic Garden," there are 
some beautiful poetic allusions to ancient gems and an- 
cient fables, which must fix themselves in the memory 
or in the imagination of the pupil. The sooner they are 
read, the better ; we have felt the advantage of putting 
them into the hands of a boy of nine or ten years old. 
The ear should be formed to English, as well as to Latin 
poetry. 

Classical poetry, without the knowledge of mythol- 
ogy, is unintelligible : if children study the one, they 
must learn the other. Divested of the charms of poetry, 
and considered without classical prepossession, mythol- 



GRAMMAR, ETC. 307 

ogy presents a system of crimes and absurdities, which 
no allegorical, metaphysical, or literal interpreters of 
modern times, can perfectly reconcile to common sense 
or common morality ; but our poets have naturalized 
ancient fables, so that mythology has become essential 
even to modern literature. The associations of taste, 
though arbitrary, are not easily changed in a nation 
whose literature has attained to a certain pitch of refine- 
ment, and whose critical judgments must consequently 
have been for some generations traditional. There are 
subjects of popular allusion, which poets and orators 
regard as common property ; to dispossess them of 
these seems impracticable, after time has sanctioned 
the prescriptive right. But new knowledge, and the 
cultivation of new sciences, present objects of poetic 
allusion, which, skilfully managed by men of inventive 
genius, will oppose to the habitual reverence for anti- 
quity, the charms of novelty united to the voice of phi- 
losophy.* 

In education we must, however, consider the actual 
state of manners in that world in which our pupils are 
to live, as well as our wishes or our hopes of its gradual 
improvement. -f With a little care, preceptors may man- 
age so as to teach mythology without in the least injur- 
ing their pupils. Children may be familiarized to the 
strange manners and strange personages of ancient fable, 
and may consider them as a set of beings who are not 
to be judged by any rules of morality, and who have 
nothing in common with ourselves. The caricature of 
some of the passions, perhaps, will not shock children 
who are not used to their natural appearance ; they will 
pass over the stories of love and jealousy merely be- 
cause they do not understand them. We should rather 
leave them completely unintelligible, than attempt, like 
Mr. Riley, in his mythological pocket dictionary for 
youth, to elucidate the whole at once, by assuring chil- 
dren that Saturn was Adam, that Atlas is Moses, and his 
brother Hesperus, Aaron ; that Vertumnus and Pomona 
were Boaz and Ruth ; that Mars corresponds with Joshua ; 
that Apollo accords with David, since they both played 

•^ See Darwin's Poetry. 

■f- Since tiie above was written, we have seen a letter from Dr. 
Aikin to his son on the morality and poetic merit of the fable of Circe, 
which convinces us that the observations that we have hazarded 8J^ 
not prematura. 



308 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

upon the harp ; that Mercury can be no other than our 
archangel Michael, since they both have wings on their 
arms and feet ; that, in short, to complete the concord- 
ance, Monius is a striking likeness of Satan. The an- 
cients, Mr. Riley allows, have so much disfigured these 
personages, that it is hard to know many of the portraits 
again at first sight ; however, he is persuaded that " the 
young student will find a peculiar gratification in tracing 
the likeness," and he has kindly furnished us with a 
catalogue to explain the exhibition, and to guide us 
through his new pantheon. 

As books of reference, the convenient size and com- 
pressed information of ;?oc/ce/; mythological dictionaries, 
will recommend them to general use ; but we object 
to the miserable prints with which they are sometimes 
disgraced. The first impression made upon the imagin- 
ation* of children, is of the utmost consequence to their 
future taste. The beautiful engravingsf in Spence's 
Polymetis, will introduce the heathen deities in their 
most graceful and ; xturesque forms to the fancy. The 
language of Spenc^, though classical, is not entirely free 
from pedantic affectation, and his dialogues are, perhaps, 
too stiff and longwinded for our young pupils. But a 
parent or preceptor can easily select the useful expla- 
nati ns ; and in turning over the prints, they can easily 
associate some general notion of the history and attri- 
butes of the gods and goddesses with their forms : the 
little eager spectators will, as they crowd round the book, 
acquire imperceptibly all the necessary knowledge of 
mythology, imbibe the first pleasing ideas of taste, and 
store their imagination with classic imagery. The same 
precautions that are necessary to educate the eye, are 
also necessary to form the ear and understanding of 
taste. The first mythological descriptions which our 
pupils read should be the best in their kind. Compare 
the following account of Europa in a pocket dictionary, 
with her figure in a poetical gem — " Europa, the daughter 
of Agenor, king of the Phoenicians, a.id sister of Cad- 
mus. This princess was so beautiful, that, they say, 
one of the companions of Juno had robbed her of a pot 
of paint to bestow on this lady, which rendered her so 
handsome. She was beloved of Jupiter, who assumed 

* Chapter on Imagination. 

f We speak of these engravings as beautiful, for the times in which 
they were done ; modern artists have arrived at higher perfection. 



GEOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY. 309 

the shape of a bull to run away with her, swam over 
the sea with her on his back, and carried her into that 
part of the world now called Europe, from her name." 
So far the dictionary ; now for the poet. 

" Now lows a milk-white bull on Afric's strand, 
And crops with dancing head the daisi'd land ; 
With rosy wreaths Enropa's hand adorns 
His fringed forehead and his pearly horns ; 
Light on his back the sportive damsel bounds, 
And, pieas'd, he moves along the flowery grounds ; 
Bears with slow step his beauteous prize aloof, 
Dips in the lucid flood his ivory hoof; 
Then wets his velvet knees, and wading, laves 
His silky sides, amid the dimpling waves. 
While her fond train v/ith beckoning hands deplore, 
Strain their blue eyes, and shriek along the shore : 
Beneath her robe she draws her snowy feet. 
And, half reclinmg on her ermine seat, 
Round his rais'd neck her radiant arms she throws, 
And rests her fair cheek on his curled brows ; 
Her yellow tresses wave on wanton gales, 
And high in air, her azure mantle sails."* 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ON GEOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY. 

The usual manner of teaching Geography and Chro- 
nology may, perhaps, be necessary in public seminaries, 
where a number of boys are to learn the same thing at 
the same tmie ; but what is learned in this manner is 
not permanent; something besides merely committing 
names and dates to the memory, is requisite to make a 
useful impression upon the memory. For the truth of 
this observation, an appeal is made to the reader. Let 
him recollect, whether the Geography and Chronology 
which he learned while a boy are what he now remem- 
bers — Whether he has not obtained his present knowl- 
edge from other sources than the tasks of early years. 
When business or conversation calls upon us to furnish 

* Darwin. See Botanic Garden. 



310 PRACTICAL education: 

facts accurate as to place and time, we retrace our former 
heterogeneous acquirements, and select those circum- 
stances which are connected with our present pursuit ; 
and thus we form, as it were, a imcleus round which 
other facts insensibly arrange themselves. Perhaps no 
two men in the world, who are well versed in these 
studies, connect their knowledge in the same manner. 
Relation to some particular country, some favourite 
history, some distinguished person, forms the connexion 
which guides our recollection, and which arranges our 
nomenclature. By attending to what passes in our own 
minds, we may learn an effectual method of teaching 
without pain, and without any extraordinary burden to 
the memory, all that is useful of these sciences. The 
details of history should be marked by a few chrono- 
logical eras, and by a few general ideas of geography. 
When these have been once completely associated in 
the mind, there is little danger of their being ever dis- 
united : the sight of any country will recall its history, 
and even from representations in a map, or on the globe, 
when the mind is awakened by any recent event, a long 
train of concomitnnt ideas will recur. 

The use of technical helps to the memory has been 
condemned by many, and certainly when they are em- 
ployed as artifices to supply the place of real knowledge, 
they are contemptible ; but when they are used as in- 
dexes to facts that have been really collected in the 
mind ; when they serve to arrange the materials of 
knowledge in appropriate classes, and to give a sure 
and rapid clew to recollection, they are of real advan- 
tage to the understanding. Indeed, they are now so 
common, that pretenders cannot build the shghtest rep- 
utation upon their foundation. Were an orator to 
attempt a display of long chronological accuracy, he 
might be wofully confounded by his opponent's applying 
at the first pause, 

*E\sluk he would have said ! 

Ample materials are furnished in Gray's Memoria 
Technica, from which a short and useful selection may 
be made, according to the purposes which are in view. 
For children, the little ballad of The Chapter of Kings 
will not be found beneath the notice of mothers who 

* See Gray's Memoria Technica, and the Critic. 



GEOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY. 311 

attend to education. If the technical terminations of 
Gray are inserted, they will never be forgotten, or may 
be easily recalled.* We scarcely ever forget a ballad 
if the tune is popular. 

For pupils at a more advanced age, it will be found 
advantageous to employ technical helps of a more sci- 
entific construction. Priestley's Chart of Biography 
may, from time to time, be hung in their view. Smaller 
charts, upon the same plan, might be provided with a 
few names as landmarks ; these may be filled up by the 
pupil with such names as he selects from history ; they 
may be bound in octavo, like maps, by the middle, so 
as to unfold both ways. — Thirty-nine inches by nine will 
be a convenient size. Prints, maps, and medals, which 
are part of the constant furniture of a room, are seldom 
attended to by young people ; but when circumstances 
excite an interest upon any particular subject, then is 
the moment to produce the symbols which record and 
communicate knowledge. 

Mrs. Radcliffe, in her judicious and picturesque tour 
through Germany, tells us, that in passing through the 
apartments of a palace which the Archdutchess Maria 
Christiana, the sister of the late unfortunate Queen of 
France, had left a few hours before, she saw spread 
upon a table a map of all the countries then included 
in the seat of the war. The positions of the several 
corps of the allied armies were marked upon this 
chart with small pieces of various coloured wax. Can 
it be doubted, that the strong interest which this prin- 
cess nmst have taken in the subject, would for ever 
impress upon her memory the geography of this part 
of the world 1 

How many people are there who have become geog- 
raphers during the progress of a war. The art of 
creating an interest in the study of geography, depends 
upon the dexterity with which passing circumstances 
are seized by a preceptor in conversation. What are 



* Instead of 

William the Conqueror long did reign, 

And William his son by an arrow was slain ; 

Read, 

"William the Consau long did reign, 

And Ruffcoi his son by an arrow was slain. 

And so on from Gray's Memoria Technica to the end of the chapter. 



312 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

maps or medals, statues or pictures, but technical helps 
to memory ! If a mother possess good prints, or casts 
of ancient gems, let them be shown to any persons of 
taste and knowledge who visit her ; their attention leads 
that of our pupils ; imitation and sympathy are the 
parents of taste, and taste reads in the monuments of 
art whatever history has recorded. 

In the Adele and Theodore of Madame de Silleri, a 
number of adventitious helps are described for teaching 
history and chronology. There can be no doubt that 
these are useful ; and although such an apparatus can- 
not be procured by private families, fortunately the 
print-shops of every provincial town, and of the capital 
in particular, furnish even to the passenger a continual 
succession of instruction. Might not prints, assorted 
for the purposes which we have mentioned, be lent at 
circulating libraries ? 

To assist our pupils in geography, we prefer a globe 
to common maps. Might not a cheap, portable, and 
convenient globe be made of oiled silk, to be inflated 
by a common pair of bellows ? Mathematical exactness 
is not requisite for our purpose, and though we could 
not pretend to the precision of our best globes, yet a 
balloon of this sort would compensate by its size and 
convenience for its inaccuracy. It might be hung by 
a line from its north pole, to a hook screwed into the 
horizontal architrave of a door or window ; and another 
string from its south pole might be fastened at a proper 
angle to the floor, to give the requisite elevation to the 
axis of the globe. An idea of the diff'erent projections 
of the sphere may be easily acquired from this globe 
in its flaccid state, and any part of it might be consulted 
as a map, if it were laid upon a convex board of a con- 
venient size. Impressions from the plates which are 
used for common globes migiit be taken to try this idea 
without any great trouble or expense ; but we wish to 
employ a much larger scale, and to have them five or 
six feet diameter. The inside of a globe of this sort 
might be easily illuminated, and this would add much to 
the novelty and beauty of its appearance. 

In the country, with the assistance of a common 
carpenter and plasterer, a large globe of lath and plaster 
may be made for the instruction and entertainment of 
a numerous family of children. Upon this they should 
leisurely delineate, from time to time, by their given 



GEOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY. 313 

latitudes and longitudes, such places as they become 
acquainted with in reading or conversation. The capital 
cities, for instance, of the different countries of Europe, 
the rivers and the neighbouring towns, until at last the 
outline might be added : for the sake of convenience, 
the lines, &c. may be first delineated upon a piece of 
paper, from which they may be accurately transferred 
to their proper places on the globe, by the intervention 
of blackleaded paper, or by pricking the lines through 
the paper, and pouncing powdered blue through the 
holes upon the surface of the globe. 

We enter into this detail because we are convinced 
that every addition to the active manual employment 
of children is of consequence, not only to their im- 
provement, but to their happiness. 

Another invention has occurred to us for teaching 
geography and history together. Priestley's Chart of 
History, though constructed with great ingenuity, does 
not invite the attention of young people ; there is an 
intricacy in the detail which is not obvious at first. To 
remedy what appears to us a difficulty, we propose tliat 
eight-and-twenty, or perhaps thirty octavo maps of the 
globe should be engraved ; upon these should be traced, 
in succession, the different situations of the different 
countries of the world, as to power and extent, during 
each respective century : different colours might denote 
the principal divisions of the world in each of these 
maps ; the same colour always denoting the same coun- 
try, with the addition of one strong colour, red, for 
instance, to distinguish that country which had at each 
period the principal dominion. On the upper and lower 
margin in these maps, the names of illustrious persons 
might be engraved in the manner of the biographical 
chart ; and the predominant opinions of each century 
should also be inserted. Thus history, chronology, 
and geography, would appear at once to the eye in 
their proper order and regular succession, divided into 
centuries and periods, which easily occur to recol- 
lection. 

We forbear to expatiate upon this subject, as it has 
not been actually submitted to experiment; carefully 
avoiding, in the whole of this work, to recommend any 
mode of instruction which we have not actually put in 
practice. For this reason, we have not spoken of the 
Abbe Gaultier's method of teaching geography, as we 
O 



314 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

have only been able to obtain accounts of it from the 
public papers, and from reviews ; we are, however, dis- 
posed to think favourably beforehand of any mode which 
unites amusement with instruction. We cannot forbear 
recommendmg, in the strongest manner, a few pages of 
Rollin in his " Thoughts upon Education,"* which we 
think contains an excellent specimen of the manner in 
which a well-informed preceptor might lead his pupils a 
geographical, historical, botanical, and physiological tour 
upon the artificial globe. 

We conclude this chapter of hints by repeating what 
we have before asserted, that though technical assist- 
ance may be of ready use to those who are really ac- 
quainted with that knowledge to which it refers, it 
never can supply the place of accurate information. 

The causes of the rise and fall of empires, the prog- 
ress of human knowledge, and the great discoveries of 
superior minds, are the real links which connect the 
chain of political knowledge. 



CHAPTER XV. 

ON ARITHMETIC. 

The man who is ignorant that two and two make 
four, is stigmatized with the character of hopeless stu- 
pidity ; except, as Swift has remarked, in the arithmetic 
of the customs, where two and two do not always make 
the same sum. 

We must not judge of the understanding of a child by 
this test, for many children of quick abilities do not 
immediately assent to this proposition when it is first 
laid before them, " Two and two make four," says the 
tutor. " Well, child, why do you stare so ?" 

The child stares because the word rtiaJce i in this sen- 
tence used in a sense which is quite new to him ; he 
knows what it is to make a bow, and to make a noise ; 
but how this active verb is applicable in the present 
case, where there is no agent to perform t^-e action, he 

* Page 21. 



I 



ARITHMETIC. 315 

cannot clearly comprehend. •' Two and two arc four" 
is more intelligible ; but even this assertion, the child, 
for want of a distinct notion of the sense in which the 
word are is nsed, does not understand. 

" Two and two are called four," is, perhaps, the most 
accurate phrase a tutor can use ; but even these words 
will convey no meaning until they have been associated 
with th« pupil's perceptions. When he has once per- 
ceived the combination of the numbers with real objects, 
it will then be easy to teach him that the words are 
called, are, and make, in the foregoing proposition, are 
synonymous terms. We have chosen the first simple 
instance we could recollect, to show how difficult the 
words we generally use in teaching arithmetic must be 
to our young pupils. It would be an unprofitable task 
to enumerate all the puzzling technical terms which, in 
their earliest lessons, children are obliged to hear, with- 
out being able to understand. 

It is not from want of capacity that so many chil- 
dren are deficient in arithmetical skill ; and it is absurd 
to say, " such a child has no genius for arithmetic. 
Such a child cannot be made to comprehend any thing 
about numbers." These assertions prove nothing, but 
that the persons who make them are ignorant of the 
art of teaching. A child's seeming stupidity in learning 
arithmetic, may, perhaps, be a proof of intelligence and 
good sense. It is easy to make a boy, who does not 
reason, repeat by rote any technical rules which a com- 
mon writingmaster, with magisterial solemnity, may 
lay down for him ; but a child who reasons will not be 
thus easily managed : he stops, frowns, hesitates, ques- 
tions his master, is wretched and refractory, until he 
can discover why he is to proceed in such and such a 
manner ; he is not content with seeing his preceptor 
make figures and lines upon a slate, and perform won- 
drous operations with the self-complacent dexterity of 
a conjurer. A sensible boy is not satisfied with merely 
seeing the total of a given sum, or the answer to a given 
question, :2ome out right ; he insists upon knowing why 
it is right. He is not content to be led to the treasures 
of science blindfold ; he would tear the bandage from 
his eyes, that he may know the way to them again. 

That many children, who have been thought to be 
slow in learning arithmetic, have, after their escape 
from the hands of pedagogues, become remarkable for 
02 



316 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their quickness, is a fact sufficiently proved by experi- 
ence. We shall only mention one instance, which we 
happened to meet with while we were writing this 
chapter. John Ludwig, a Saxon peasant, was dismissed 
from school when he was a child, after four years 
ineffectual struggle to learn the common rules of 
arithmetic. He had been, during this time, beaten and 
scolded in vain. He spent several subsequent years in 
common country labour, but at length some accidental 
circumstances excited his ambition, and he became ex- 
pert in all the common rules, and mastered the rule of 
three and fractions, by the help of an old school-book, 
in the course of one year. He afterward taught him- 
self geometry, and raised himself, by the force of his 
abilities and perseverance, from obscurity to fame. 

We should like to see the book which helped Mr. 
Ludwig to conquer his difficulties. Introductions to 
arithmetic are, often, calculated rather for adepts in 
science than for the ignorant. We do not pretend to 
have discovered any shorter method than what is com- 
mon, of teaching these sciences; but, in conformity 
with the principles which are laid down in the former 
part of this work, we have endeavoured to teach their 
rudiments without disgusting our pupils, and without 
habituating them to be contented with merely technical 
operations. 

In arithmetic, as in every other branch of education, 
the principal object should be, to preserve the under- 
standing from implicit belief; to invigorate its powers; 
to associate pleasure with literature ; and to induce the 
laudable ambition of progressive improvement. 

As soon as a child can read he should be accustomed 
to count, and to have the names of numbers early con- 
nected in his mind with the combinations which they 
represent. For this purpose, he should be taught to add 
first by things, and afterward by signs or figures. He 
should be taught to form combinations of things by 
adding them together one after another. At the same 
time that he acquires the names that have been given to 
these combinations, he should be taught the figures or 
symbols that represent them. P'or example, when it is 
familiar to the child that one almond and one almond 
are called two almonds ; that one almond and two 
almonds are called three almonds, and so on, he should 
be taught to distinguish the figures that represent these 



ARITHMETIC. 317 

assemblages ; that three means one and two, &c. Each 
operation of arithmetic should proceed in this manner, 
from individuals to the abstract notation of signs. 

One of the earliest operations of the reasoning faculty- 
is abstraction ; that is to say, the power of classing a 
number of individuals under one name. Young children 
call strangers either men or women; even the most 
ignorant savages* have a propensity to generalize. 

"We may err either by accustoming our pupils too 
much to the consideration of tangible substances when 
we teach them arithmetic, or by turning their attention 
too much to signs. The art of forming a sound and 
active understanding, consists in the due mixture of 
facts and reflection. Dr. Reid has, in his " Essay on 
the Intellectual Powers of Man," page 297, pointed out, 
with great ingenuity, the admirable economy of nature 
in limiting the powers of reasoning during the first years 
of infancy. This is the season for cultivating the 
senses ; and whoever, at this early age, endeavours to 
force the tender shoots of reason, will repent his rash- 
ness. 

In the chapter " on Toys," we have recommended the 
use of plain, regular solids, cubes, globes, &c., made of 
wood, as playthings for children, instead of uncouth fig- 
ures of men, women, and animals. For teaching arith- 
metic, half inch cubes, which can be easily grasped by in- 
fant fingers, may be employed with great advantage ; they 
can be easily arranged in various combinations ; the eye 
can easily take in a sufficient number of them at once, and 
the mind is insensibly led to consider the assemblages in 
which they may be grouped, not only as they relate to 
number, but as they relate to quantity or shape ; besides, 
the terms which are borrowed from some of these 
shapes, as squares, cubes, &c., will become familiar. 
As these children advance in arithmetic to square or 
cube, a number will be more intelligible to them than to 
a person who has been taught these words merely as 
the formula of certain rules. In arithmetic, the first 
lessons should be short and simple ; two cubes placed 
above each other will soon be called two ; if placed in 
any other situations near each other, they will still be 
called two ; but it is advantageous to accustom our little 

* See a strange instance quoted by Mr. Stewart, " On the Human 
Mind." 



318 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

pupils to place the cubes with which they are taught in 
succession, either by placing them upon one another, or 
laying them in columns upon a table, beginning to count 
from the cube next to them, as we cast up in addition. 
For this purpose, aboard about six inches long and five 
broad, divided into columns perpendicularly by slips of 
wood three eighths of an inch wide and one eighth of 
an inch thick, will be found useful ; and if a few cubes 
of colours different from those already mentioned, with 
numbers on their six sides, are procured, they may be 
of great service. Our cubes sliould be placed, from time 
to time, in a different order, or promiscuously ; but when 
any arithmetical operations are to be performed with 
them, it is best to preserve the established arrangement. 

One cube and one other, are called two. 

Two what ? 

Two cubes. 

One glass and one glass, are called two glasses. One 
raisin and one raisin, are called two raisins, &c. One 
cube and one glass, are called what ] Two things, or 
two. 

By a process of this sort, the meaning of the abstract 
term two may be taught. A child will perceive that the 
word two means the same as the words one and one ; 
and when we say one and one are called two, unless he 
is prejudiced by something else that is said to him, he 
will understand nothing more than that there are two 
names for the same tiling. 

" One, and one, and one, are called three," is the same 
as saying " that three is the name for one, and one, and 
one." — '" Two and one are three," is also the same as 
saying " that three is the name of two and one^ Three 
is also the name of one and two ; the word three has, 
therefore, three meanings ; it means one, and one, and 
one ; also, two and one ; also, one and two. He will 
see that any two of the cubes may be put together, as 
it were, in one parcel, and that this parcel may be called 
two; and he will also see that this parcel, when joined 
to another single cube, will make three, and that the sum 
will be the same, whether the single cube or the two 
cubes be named first. 

In a similar manner, the combinations which forno 
four may be considered. One, and one, and one, and 
one, are four. 

One and three are four. 



ARITHMETIC. 319 

Two aiid two are four. 

Three and one are four. 

All these assertions mean the same thing, and the 
term/oM7* is equally applicable to each of them : when, 
therefore, we say that two and two are four, the child 
may be easily led to perceive, and indeed to 5ee, that it 
means the same thing as saying one two and one two, 
which is the same thing as saying two twos, or saying 
the word tivo two times. Our pupil should be suffered 
to rest here ; and we should not, at present, attempt to 
lead him farther towards that compendious method of 
addition which we call multiplication ; but the founda- 
tion is laid by giving him this view of the relation be- 
tween two and two in forming four. 

There is an enumeration in the note* of the different 

NOTE, 
1 1 

* Two is 1 11 

the — 12 

name for 2 — — 



1 

1 1 

1 i 

1 2 



1 

1 1 

111 1 

11112 
12 3 4 2 



5 


5 5 


5 


5 5 




















1 












1 1 




1 








1 1 1 




1 2 1 


1 






1 1 1 


1 


2 2 3 


4 2 


3 




2 3 4 


5 


2 2 2 


2 3 


3 



66666666666 



320 



PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



combinations which compose the rest of Arabic nota- 
tion, which consists only of nine characters. 

Before we proceed to the number ten, or to the new 
series of enumeration which succeeds to it, we should 
make our pupils perfectly masters of the combinations 





1 






























1 


1 








1 




















1 


1 


1 






1 


1 


1 
















1 


1 


1 


1 




1 


2 


1 


1 




2 


1 








1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


2 


2 


3 


4 


5 


2 


3 


4 






2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


3 


3 


3 






7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 




































1 






























1 


1 










1 


















1 


1 


1 








1 


1 




1 












1 


1 


1 


1 






1 


1 


2 


1 


1 


1 








1 


1 


1 


1 


1 




1 


2 


2 


1 


2 


1 


2 


1 




1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


3 


3 


4 




2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


2 


2 


2 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


8 


8 

1 
1 


8 
2 


8 
1 


8 


8 
1 


8 


8 


8 


8 


8 


8 


8 


8 


8 


5 


2 


2 


3 


4 


2 


2 


















3 


4 


4 


4 


4 


5 


6 



















8 8 8 



8 8 8 



2 3 4 



1 
1 1 



1 1 
1 1 

6 7 



1 
1 1 



999999999999999 



ARITHMETIC. 321 

which we have mentioned, both in the direct order in 
which they are arranged, and in various modes of suo- 
cession ; by these means, not only the addition, but the 
subtraction, of numbers as far as nine, will be perfectly 
familiar to them. 

It has been observed before, that counting by realities 
and by signs should be taught at the same time, so that 
the ear, the eye, and the mind should keep pace with 
one another; and that technical habits should be ac- 
quired without injury to the understanding. If a child 
begins between four and five years of age, he may be 
allowed half a year for this essential preliminary step in 
arithmetic ; four or five minutes' application every day, 
will be sufficient to teach him not only the relations of 
the first decade in numeration, but also how to write 
figures with accuracy and expedition. 

The next step is by far the most difficult in the science 
of arithmetic ; in treatises upon the subject, it is con- 
cisely passed over under the title of Numeration ; but it 
requires no small degree of care to make it intelligible 
to children, and we therefore recommend, that besides 
direct instruction upon the subject, the child should be 
led, by degrees, to understand the nature of classification 
in general. Botarly and natural history, though they are 
not pursued as sciences, are, notwithstanding, the daily 
occupation and amusement of children, and they supply 
constant examples of classification. In conversation, 
these maybe familiarly pointed out; a grove, a flock, 
&c., are constantly before the eyes of our pupil, and he 
comprehends as well as we do what is meant by two 
groves, two flocks, &c. The trees that form the grove 
are each of them individuals ; but let their numbers be 
what they may when they are considered as a grove, 
the grove is but one, and may be thought of and spoken 
of distinctly, without any relation to the number of 
single trees which it contains. ^From these and similar 

NOTE. 

1 
11 11 1 
2 3 12 1 12 1 12 1 
33445622452222 
33333344445567 

99999999999999 
03 



322 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

observations, a child may be led to consider ten as the 
name for a ivhole, an integer ; a one, which may be rep- 
resented by the figure (1) : this same figure may also 
stand for a hundred or a thousand, as he will readily 
perceive hereafter. Indeed, the term one hundred will 
become familiar to him in conversation long before he 
comprehends that the word ten is used as an aggregate 
term, like a dozen, or a thousand. We do not use the 
word ten as the French do ime dizaine ; ten does not, 
therefore, present the idea of an integer till we learn 
arithmetic. This is a defect in our language, which has 
arisen from the use of duodecimal numeration ; the 
analogies existing between the names of other numbers 
in progression are broken by the terms eleven and twelve. 
Thirteen, fourteen, &c., are so obviously compounded of 
three and ten, and four and ten, as to strike the ears 
of children immediately ; and when they advance as far 
as twenty, they readily perceive that a new series of 
units begins, and proceeds to thirty; and that thirty, 
forty, &c., mean three tens, four tens, &c. In pointing 
out these analogies to children, they become interested 
and attentive ; they show that species of pleasure which 
arises from the perception of aptitude, or of truth. It 
can scarcely be denied that such a pleasure exists in- 
dependently of every view of utility and fame ; and 
when we can once excite this feeling in the minds of 
our young pupils at any period of tiieir education, we 
may be certain of success. 

As soon as distinct notions have been acquired of the 
manner in which a collection of ten units becomes a 
new unit of a higher order, our pupil may be led to ob- 
serve the utility of this invention by various examples, 
before he applies it to the rules of arithmetic. Let him 
count as far as ten with black pebbles,* for instance ; let 
him lay aside a white pebble to represent the collection 
of ten ; he may count another series of ten black peb- 
bles, and lay aside another white one ; and so on, till he 
has collected ten white pebbles : as eachoi the ten white 
pebbles represents ten black pebbles, he will have counted 
one hundred ; and the ten white pebbles may now be 
represented by a single red one, which will stand for 
one hundred. This large number, which it takes up so 
much time to count, and which could not be compre- 

* The word calculate is derived from the Latin calculus, a pebble. 



ARITHMETIC. 323 

hended at one view, is represented by a single sign. 
Here ttie diiference of colour forms the distinction : dif- 
ference in shape or size would answer ihe same pur- 
pose, as in the Roman notation, X for ten, L for fifty, 
C for one hundred, &c. All this is fully within the 
comprehension of a child of six years old, and will lead 
him to the value of written figures by the place which 
they hold when compared with one another. Indeed, he 
may be led to invent this arrangement, a circumstance 
which would encourage him in every part of his educa- 
tion. When once he clearly comprehends that the third 
place, counting from the right, contains only figures 
which represent hundreds, &c., he will have conquered 
one of the greatest difficulties of arithmetic. If a 
paper ruled with several perpendicular lines, a quarter 
of an inch asunder, be shown to him, he will see 
that the spaces or columns between these lines would 
distinguish the value of figures written in them, with- 
out the use of the sign (0), and he will see that (0) or 
zero, serves only to mark the place or situation of the 
neighbouring figures. 

An idea of decimal arithmetic, but without detail, 
may now be given to him, as it will not appear extraor- 
dinary to him that a unit should represent ten by having 
its place or column changed ; and nothing more is 
necessary in decimal arithmetic, than to consider that 
figure which represented, at one time, an integer, or 
whole, as representing at another time the number 
of tenth parts into which that wliole may have been 
broken. 

Our pupil may next be taught what is called numer- 
ation, which he cannot fail to understand, and in which 
he should be frequently exercised. Common addition 
will be easily understood by a child who distinctly per- 
ceives that the perpendicular columns, or places in which 
figures are written, may distinguish their value under 
various different denominations, as gallons, furlongs, 
shillings, &c. We should not tease children with long 
sums in avoirdupois weight, or load their frail memories 
with tables of long-measure, and dry- measure, and ale- 
measure in the country and ale-measure in London ; 
only let them cast up a few sums in different denomina- 
tions, with the tables before them, and let the practice 
of addition be preserved in their minds by short sums 
every day, and when they are between six and seven 



324 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

years old, they will be sufficiently masters of the first 
and most useful rule of arithmetic. 

To children who have been trained in this manner, 
subtraction will be quite easy ; care, however, should 
be taken to give them a clear notion of the mystery of 
borroioing and paying, which is inculcated in teaching 
subtraction. 

From 94 

' Subtract 46 

" Six from four I can't, but six from ten and four re- 
mains ; four and four is eight." 

And then, " One that I borrowed and four are five, 
five from nine, and four remains." 

This Is the formula ; but is it ever explained — or can 
it be ] Certainly not without some alteration. A child 
,sees that six cannot be subtracted (taken) from four : 
more especially a child who is famiharly acquainted 
with the component parts of the names six ?nd four : 
he sees that the sum 46 is less than the sum 94, and he 
knows that the lesser sum may be subtracted from the 
greater ; but he does not perceive the means of sep- 
arating them figure by figure. Tell him, that though 
six cannot be deducted from four, yet it can from four- 
teen, and that if one of the tens which are contained in 
the (9) ninety in the uppermost row of the second 
column, be supposed to be taken awa)', or borrowed, 
from the ninety, and added to the four, the nine will be 
reduced to 8 (eighty), and the four will become fourteen. 
Our pupil will comprehend this most readily ; he will 
see that 6, which could not be subtracted from 4, may 
be subtracted from fourteen, and he will remember that 
the 9 in the next column is to be considered as only (8). 
To avoid confusion, he may draw a stroke across the 
(9) and write 8 over* it (|), and proceed to the remainder 
of the operation. This method for beginners is cer- 
tainly very distinct, and may, for some time, be em- 
ployed with advantage ; and after its rationale has be- 
come familiar, we may explain the common method 
which depends upon this consideration. 

" If one number is to be deducted from another, the 
remainder will be the same, whether we add any given 

* This method is recommended in the Cours de Math, par 
Camus, p. 38. 



ARITHMETIC. 325 

number to the smaller number, or take away the same 
given number from the larger." For instance : 
Let the larger number be ... 9 

And the smaller 4 

If you deduct 3 from the larger it will be 6 
From this subtract the smaller . . 4 

The remainder will be ... 2 

Or if you add 3 to the smaller number, it will be 7 

Subtract this from the larger number . 9 

7 

The remainder will be ... 2 

Now in the common method of subtraction, the one 
which is borrowed is taken from the uppermost figure 
in the adjoining column ; and instead of altering that 
figure to one less, we add one to the lowest figure, which, 
as we have just shown, will have the same effect. The 
terms, however, that are commonly used in performing 
this operation, are improper. To say " one that I 
borrowed, and four" (meaning the lowest figure in the 
adjoining column) implies the idea that what was bor- 
rowed is now to be repaid to that lowest figure, which 
is not the fact. As to multiplication, we have little to 
say. Our pupil should be furnished, in the first instance, 
with a table containing the addition of the different 
units which form the different products of the multi- 
plication table : these he should, from time to time, add 
up as an exercise in addition ; and it should be frequently 
pointed out to him, that adding these figures so many 
times over is the same as multiplying them by the num- 
ber of times that they are added; as three times 3 
means 3 added three times. Here one of the figures 
represents a quantity, the other does not represent a 
quantity ; it denotes nothing but the times, or frequency 
of repetition. Young people, as they advance, are apt 
to confound these signs, and to imagine, for instance, in 
the rule of three, &c., that the sums which they multi- 
ply together mean quantities ; that 40 yards of linen 
may be multiplied by three and sixpence, &c. — an idea 
from which the misstatements in sums that are intri- 
cate, frequently arise. 
We have heard that the multiplication table has been 



326^ PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

set, like The Chapter of Kings, to a cheerful tune. This 
is a species of technical memory which we have long 
practised, and which can do no harm to the understand- 
ing ; it prevents the mind from no beneficial exertion, 
and may save much irksome labour. It is certainly to 
be wished, that our pupil should be expert in the multi- 
plication table ; if the cubes which we have formerly 
mentioned be employed for this purpose, the notion 
of squaring figures will be introduced at the same time 
that the multiplication table is committed to memory. 

In division, M'hat is called the Italian method of ar- 
ranging the divisor and quotient appears to be prefer- 
able to the common one, as it places them in such a 
manner as to be easily multiplied by each other, and as 
it agrees with algebraic notation. 

The usual method is this : 
Divisor 

71)83467(1175 
Italian method : 
Dividend 

83467 71 

1175 

The rule of three is commonly taught in a manner 
merely technical : that it may be learned in this man- 
ner, so as to answer the common purposes of life, there 
can be no doubt ; and nothing is farther from our design 
than to depreciate any mode of instruction which has 
been sanctioned by experience : but our purpose is to 
point out methods of conveying instruction that shall 
improve the reasoning faculty, and habituate our pupil 
to think upon every subject. We wish, therefore, to 
point out the course which the mind would follow to 
solve problems relative to proportion without the rule, 
and to turn our pupil's attention to the circumstances m 
which the rule assists us. 

The calculation of the price of any commodity, or 
the measure of any quantity, where the first term is one, 
may be always stated as a sum in the rule of three ; but 
as this statement retards, instead of expediting the 
operation, it is never practised. 

If one yard costs a shilling, how much will three yards 
cost ? 

The mind immediately perceives, that the price added 
three times together, or multiplied by three, gives the 



ARITHMETIC. 327 

answer. If a certain number of apples are to be equally- 
distributed among a certain number of boys, if the share 
of one is one apple, the share of ten or twenty is plainly- 
equal to ten or twenty. But if we state that the share 
of three boys is twelve apples, and ask what number 
will be sufficient for nine boys, the answer is not ob- 
vious ; it requires consideration. Ask our pupil what 
made it so easy to answer the last question, he will 
readily say, " Because I knew what was the share of 
one." 

Then you could answer this new question if you knew 
the share of one boy ? 

Yes. 

Cannot you find out what the share of one boy is 
when the share of three boys is twelve 1 

Four. 
I What number of apples then will be enough, at the 
same rate, for nine boys 1 

Nine times four, that is thirty-six. 

In this process he does nothing more than divide the 
second number by the first, and multiply the quotient by 
the third ; 12 divided by 3 is 4, which multiplied by 9 is 
36. And this is, in truth, the foundation of the rule ; 
for though the golden rule facilitates calculation, and 
contributes admirably to our convenience, it is not ab- 
solutely necessary to the solution of questions relating 
to proportion. 

Again, " If the share of three boys is five apples, how 
many will be sufficient for nine ]" 

Our pupil will attempt to proceed as in the former 
question, and will begin by endeavouring to find out the 
share of one of the three boys ; but this is not quite 
so easy ; he will see that each is to have one apple, 
and part of another ; but it will cost him some pains 
to determine exactly how much. When at length he 
finds that one and two thirds is the share of one boy, 
before he can answer the question, he must multiply 
one and two thirds by nine, which is an operation in 
fractions, a rule of which he at present knows notliing. 
But if he begins by multiplying the second, instead of 
dividing it previously by the first number, he will avoid 
the embarrassment occasioned by fractional parts, and 
will easily solve the question. 



328 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

3 : 5 : 9 : 15 

Multiply 5 

by 9 

it makes 45 
which product 45, divided by 3, gives 15. 

Here our pupil perceives, that if a given number, 
12, for instance, is to be divided by one number and 
multiplied by another, it loill come to. the same thing, 
whether he begins by dividing the given number, or by 
multiplying it. 

12 divided by 4 is 3, which 

multiplied by 6 is 18 : 

And 

12 multiplied by 6 is 72, which 

divided by 4 is 18. 

We recommend it to preceptors not to fatigue the 
memories of their young pupils with sums which are 
difficult only from the number of figures which they re- 
quire, but rather to give examples in practice, where 
aliquot parts are to be considered, and where their 
ingenuity may be employed without exhausting their 
patience. A variety of arithmetical questions occur in 
common conversation, and from common incidents ; 
these should be made a subject of inquiry, and our pupils, 
among others, should try their skill : in short, what- 
ever can be taught in conversation, is clear gain in 
instruction. 

We should observe, that every explanation upon these 
subjects should be recurred lo from timo to time, per- 
haps every two or three months ; as there are no cir- 
cumstances in the business of every day, which recall 
abstract speculations to the minds of children ; and the 
pupil who understands them to-day, may, without any 
deficiency of memory, forget them entirely in a few 
weeks. Indeed, the perception of the chain of reason- 
ing, which connects demonstration, is what makes it 
truly advantageous in education. Whoever has occa- 
sion, in the business of life, to make use of the rule of 
three, may learn it effectually in a month as well as in 
ten years ; but the habit of reasoning cannot be ac- 
quired late in life, without unusual labour and uncom- 
mon fortitude. 



GEOMETRY. 329 



CHAPTER XVI. 

GEOMETRY. 

There is certainly no royal road to Geometry, but the 
way may be rendered easy and pleasant by timely prep- 
arations for the journey. 

Without any previous knowledge of the country, or 
of its peculiar language, how can we expect that our 
young traveller should advance with facility or pleasure 1 
We are anxious that our pupil should acquire a taste for 
accurate reasoning, and we resort to Geometry, as the 
most perfect and the purest series of ratiocination 
which has been invented. Let us, then, sedulously avoid 
whatever may disgust him ; let his first steps be easy 
and successful ; let them be frequently repeated, until he 
can trace them without a guide. 

We have recommended, in the chapter upon Toys, that 
children should, from their earliest years, be accustomed 
to the shape of what are commonly called regular solids ; 
they should also be accustomed to the figures in mathe- 
matical diagram.s. To these should be added their re- 
spective names, and the whole language of the science 
should be rendered as familiar as possible. 

Mr. Donne, an ingenious mathematician of Bristol, 
has published a prospectus of an Essay on Mechanical 
Geometry : he has executed, and employed with suc- 
cess, models in wood and metal, for demonstrating prop- 
ositions in geometry in a palpable manner. We have 
endeavoured in vain to procure a set of these models 
for our own pupils, but we have no doubt of their en- 
tire utility. 

What has been acquired in childhood should not be 
suffered to escape the memory. Dionysius* had mathe- 
matical diagrams described upon the floors of his apart- 
ments, and thus recalled their demonstrations to his 
memory. The slightest addition that can be conceived, 
if it be continued daily, will, imperceptibly, not only 

* Plutarch.— Life of Dion. 



330 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

preserve what has been already acquired, but will in a 
few years amount to as large a stock of mathematical 
knowledge as we could wish. It is not our object to 
make mathematicians, but to make it easy to our pupil 
to become a mathematician, if his interest or his am- 
bition, make it desirable ; and, above all, to habituate 
him to clear reasoning and close attention. And we 
may here remark, that an early acquaintance with the 
accuracy of mathematical demonstration, does not, 
within our experience, contract the powers of the im- 
agination. On the contrary, we think that a young lady 
of twelve years old who is now no more, and who had 
an uncommon propensity to mathematical reasoning, 
had an imagination remarkably vivid and inventive.* 

We have accustomed our pupils to form in their minds 
the conception of figures generated from points and 
lines, and surfaces supposed to move in different direc- 
tions and with different velocities. It may be thought, 
that this would be a difficult occupation for young 
minds ; but, upon trial, it will be found not only easy to 
them, but entertaining. In their subsequent studies, it 
will be of material advantage; it will facilitate their 
progress not only in pure mathematics, but in mechan- 
ics and astronomy, and in every operation of the mind 
which requires exact reflectio;i. 

To demand steady thought from a person who has not 
been trained to it, is one of the most unprofitable and 
dangerous requisitions that can be made in education. 

" Full in the midst of Euclid dip at once, 
And petrify a genius to a dunce." 

In the usual commencement of mathematical studies, 
the learner is required to admit that a point, of which 
he sees the prototype, a dot before him, has neither 
length, breadth, nor thickness. This, surely, is a de- 
gree of faith not absolutely necessary for the neophyte 
in science. It is an absurdity which has, with much 
success, been attacked in " Observations on the Nature 
of Demonstrative Evidence," by Doctor Beddoes. 

We agree with the doctor as to the impropriety of 
calling a visible dot a point without dimensions. But, 
notwithstanding the high respect which the author com- 
mands by a steady pursuit of truth on all subjects of 

* See Rivuletta, a little story written entirely by her in 1786. 



GEOMETRY. 331 

human knowledge, we cannot avoid protesting- against 
part of the doctrine which he has endeavoured to in- 
culcate. That the names, point, radius, &c., are derived 
from sensible objects, need not be disputed ; but surely 
the word centre can be understood by the human 
mind without the presence of any visible or tangible 
substance. 

Where two lines meet, their junction cannot have 
dimensions ; where two radii of a circle meet, they con- 
stitute the centre; and the name centre may be used 
for ever without any relation to a tangible or visible 
point. The word boundary, in like manner, means the 
extreme limit we call a line ; but to assert that it has 
thickness, would, from the very terms which are used to 
describe it, be a direct contradiction. Bishop Berkeley, 
Mr. Walton, Philathetes Cantabrigiensis, and Mr. Ben- 
jamin Robins, published several pamphlets upon this 
subject about half a century ago. No man had a more 
penetrating mind than Berkeley ; but we apprehend that 
Mr. Robins closed the dispute against him. This is not 
meant as an appeal to authority, but to apprize such of 
our readers as wish to consider the argument, where 
they may meet an accurate investigation of the subject. 
It is sufficient for our purpose, to warn preceptors not 
to insist upon their pupils' acquiescence in the dogma, 
that a point, represented by a dot, is without dimen- 
sions ; and at the same time to profess, that we under- 
stand distinctly what is meant by mathematicians when 
they speak of length without breadth, and of a super- 
ficies without depth ; expressions which, to our minds, 
convey a meaning as distinct as the name of any visible 
or tangible substance in nature, whose varieties from 
shade, distance, colour, smoothness, heat, &c., are in- 
finite, and not to be comprehended in any definition. 

In fact, this is a dispute merely about words ; and as 
the extension of the art of printing puts it in the power 
of every man to propose and to defend his opinions at 
length and at leisure, the best friends may support dif- 
ferent sides of a question with mutual regard, and the 
most violent enemies with civility and decorum. Can 
we believe that Tycho Bralie lost half his nose in a 
dispute with a Danish nobleman about a mathematical 
demonstration ] 



332 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ON MECHANICS. 

Parents are anxious that children should be con- 
versant with Mechanics, and with what are called the 
Mechanic Powers. Certainly no species of knowledge 
is better suited to the taste and capacity of youth, and 
yet it seldom forms a part of early instruction. Every- 
body talks of the lever, the wedge, and the pulle)% but 
most people perceive, that the notions which they have 
of their respective uses are unsatisfactory and indis- 
tinct ; and many endeavour, at a late period of life, to 
acquire a scientific and exact knowledge of the effects 
that are produced by implements which are in every- 
body's hands, or that are absolutely necessary in the 
daily occupations of mankind. 

An itinerant lecturer seldom fails of having a numer- 
ous and attentive auditory ; and if he does not commu- 
nicate much of that knowledge which he endeavours to 
explain, it is not to be attributed either to his want of 
skill, or to the insufficiency of his apparatus, but to the 
novelty of the terms which he is obliged to use. Igno- 
rance of the language in which any science is taught, is 
an insuperable bar to its being suddenly acquired ; be- 
sides a precise knowledge of the meaning of terms, we 
must have an instantaneous idea excited in our minds 
whenever they are repeated ; and, as this can be ac- 
quired only by practice, it is impossible that philosophi- 
cal lectures can be of much service to those who are 
not familiarly acquainted with the technical language 
in which they are delivered ; and yet there is scarcely 
any subject of human inquiry more obvious to the un- 
derstanding than the laws of mechanics. Only a small 
portion of geometry is necessary to the learner, if he 
even wishes to become master of the more difficult 
problems which are usually contained in a course of 
lectures ; and most of what is practically useful, may be 
acquired by any person who is expert in common 
arithmetic. 



MECHANICS. 333 

But we cannot proceed a single step without deviating 
from common language ; if the theory of the balance 
or the lever is to be explained, we immediately speak 
of space and time. To persons not versed in literature, 
it is probable that these terms appear more simple and 
intelligible than they do to a man who has read Locke, 
and other metaphysical writers. The term space, to the 
bulk of mankind, conveys the idea of an interval; they 
consider the word time as representing a definite num- 
ber of years, days, or minutes ; but the metaphysician, 
when he hears the words space and time, immediately 
takes the alarm, and recurs to the abstract notions 
which are associated with these ternis ; he perceives 
difficulties unknown to the unlearned, and feels a con- 
fusion of ideas which distracts his attention. The 
lecturer proceeds with confidence, never supposing that 
his audience can be puzzled by such common terms. 
He means by space, the distance from the place whence 
a body begins to fall, to the place where its motion 
ceases ; and by time, he means the number of seconds, 
or of any determinate divisions of civil time, which 
elapse from the commencement of any motion to its 
end; or, in other words, the duration of any given mo- 
tion. After this has been frequently repeated, any in- 
telligent person perceives the sense in which they are 
used by the tenour of the discourse ; but in the interim, 
the greatest part of what he has heard cannot have been 
understood, and the premises upon which every subse- 
quent demonstration is founded, are unknown to him. 
If this be true when it is affirmed of two terms only, 
what must be the situation of those to whom eight or 
ten unknown technical terms occur at the commence- 
ment of a lecture \ A complete knowledge, such a 
knowledge as is not only full, but familiar, of all the 
common terms made use of in theoretic and practical 
mechanics, is, therefore, absolutely necessary, before 
any person can attend public lectures in natural phi- 
losophy with advantage. 

What has been said of public lectures, may, with 
equal propriety, be applied to private instruction ; and 
it is probable, that inattention to this circumstance is 
the reason why so few people have distinct notions of 
natural philosophy. Learning by rote, or even reading 
repeatedly, definitions of the technical terms of any 
science, must undoubtedly facilitate its acquirement; 



334 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

but conversation, with the habit oi" explaining the mean- 
ing of words, and the structure of common domestic 
implements, to children, is the sure and effectual 
method of preparing the mind for the acquirement of 
science. 

The ancients, in learning this species of knowledge, 
had an advantage of which we are deprived : many of 
their terms of science were the common names of fa- 
miliar objects. How few do we meet who have a dis- 
tinct notion of the words radius, angle, or valve. A 
Roman peasant knew what a radius or a valve meant, 
in its original signification, as well as a modern profes- 
sor ; he knew that a valve was a door, and a radius a 
spoke of a wheel ; but an English child finds it as diffi- 
cult to remember the meaning of the word angle, as the 
word parabola. An angle is usually confounded, by 
those who are ignorant of geometry and mechanics, 
with the word triangle ; and the long reasouing of many 
a laborious instructer has been confounded by this popu- 
lar mistake. When a glass pump is shown to an ad- 
miring spectator, he is desired to watch the motion of 
the valves : he looks " above, about, and underneath ;" 
but, ignorant of the word valve^ he looks in vain. Had 
he been desired to look at the motion of the little doors 
that opened and shut, as the handle of the pump was 
moved up and down, he would have followed the lec- 
turer with ease, and would have understood all his sub- 
sequent reasoning. If a child attempts to push any 
thing heavier than himself, his feet slide away from it, 
and the object can be moved only at intervals, and by 
sudden starts ; but if he be desired to prop his feet 
against the wall, he finds it easy to push what before 
eluded his little strength. Here the use of a fulcrum, 
or fixed point, by means of whicli bodies maybe moved, 
is distinctly understood. If two boys lay a board across 
a narrow block of wood or stone, and balance each 
other at the opposite ends of it, they acquire another 
idea of a centre of motion. If a poker is rested against 
a bar of a grate, and employed to lift up the coals, the 
same notion of a centre is recalled to their minds. If 
a boy, sitting upon a plank, a sofa, or form, be lifted up 
by another boy's applying his strength at one end of the 
seat, while the other rests on the ground, it will be 
readily perceived by them, that the point of rest, or 
centre of motion, or fulcrum, is the ground, and that 



MECHANICS. 335 

the fulcrum is not, as in the first instance, between^ the 
force that lifts and the thing that is lifted ; the fulcrum 
is at one end, the force which is exerted acts at the 
other end, and the weight is in the middle. In trying 
these simple experiments, the terms fulcrum, centre of 
motion, <fc., should be constantly employed, and in a 
very short time they would be as familiar to a boy of 
eight years old as to any philosopher. If for some 
years the same words frequently recur to him in the 
same sense, is it to be supposed that a lecture upon the 
balance and the lever would be as unintelligible to him 
as to persons of good abilities, who at a more advanced 
age hear these terms from the mouth of a lecturer 1 A 
boy in such circumstances would appear as if he had a 
genius for mechanics, when, perhaps, he might have 
less taste for the science, and less capacity, than the 
generality of the audience. Trifling as it may at first 
appear, it will not be found a trifling advantage, in the 
progress of education, to attend to this circumstance. 
A distinct knowledge of a few terms assists a learner 
in his first attempts ; finding these successful, he ad- 
vances with confidence, and acquires new ideas without 
difficulty or disgust. Rousseau, with his usual eloquence, 
has inculcated the necessity of annexing ideas to words ; 
he declaims against the splendid ignorance of men who 
speak by rote, and who are rich in words amid the 
most deplorable poverty of ideas. To store the memory 
of his pupil with images of things, he is willing to neg- 
lect and leave to hazard his acquirement of language. 
It requires no elaborate argument to prove that a boy, 
whose mind was stored with accurate images of exter- 
nal objects of experimental knowledge, and who had 
acquired habitual dexterity, but who was unacquainted 
with the usual signs by which ideas are expressed, 
would be incapable of accurate reasoning, or would, at 
best, reason only upon particulars. Without general 
terms, he could not abstract ; he could not, until his 
vocabulary was enlarged and familiar to him, reason 
upon general topics, or draw conclusions from general 
principles: in short, he would be in the situation of 
those who, in the solution of difficult and complicated 
questions relative to quantity, are obliged to employ te- 
dious and perplexed calculations, instead of the clear 
and comprehensive methods that unfold themselves by 
the use of signs in algebra. 



336 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

It is not necessary, in teaching children the technical 
language of any art or science, that we should pursue 
the same order that is requisite in teaching the science 
itself. Order is required in reasoning, because all rea- 
soning is employed in deducing propositions from one 
another in a regular series; but where terms are em- 
ployed merely as names, this order may be dispensed 
with. It is, however, of great consequence to seize 
the proper time for introducing a new term ; a moment 
when attention is awake, and when accident has pro- 
duced some particular interest in the object. In every 
family, opportunities of this sort occur without any 
preparation ; and such opportunities are far preferable 
to a formal lecture and a splendid apparatus, for the first 
lessons in natural philosophy and chymistry. If tlie 
pump belonging to the house is out of order, and the 
pump- maker is set to work, an excellent opportunity 
presents itself for variety of instruction. The centre 
pin of the handle is taken out, and a long rod is drawn 
up by degrees, at the end of which a round piece of 
wood is seen, partly covered with leather. Your pupil 
immediately asks the name of it, and the pump-maker 
prevents your answer, by informing little master that it 
is called a sucker. You show it to the child, he handles 
it, feels whether the leather is hard or soft, and at 
length discovers that there is a hole through it, which 
is covered with a little flap or door. This, he learns 
from the workman, is called a clack. The child should 
now be permitted to plunge the piston (by which name it 
should noio be called) into a tub of water ; in drawing it 
backward and forward, he will perceive that the clack, 
which should now be called the valve, opens and shuts 
as the piston is drawn backward and forward. It will 
be better not to inform the child how this mechanism is 
employed in the pump. If the names sucker and piston, 
clack and valve, are Axed in his memory, it will be sufli- 
cient for his first lesson. At another opportunity, he 
should be present when the fixed or lower valve of the 
pump is drawn up ; he will examine it, and find that it is 
similar to the valve of the piston ; if he sees it put 
down into the pump, and sees the piston put into its 
place, and set to work, the names that he has learned 
will be fixed more deeply in his mind, and he will have 
some general notion of the whole apparatus. From time 
to time these names should be recalled to his memory 



MECHANICS. 337 

on suitable occasions, but he should not be asked to re- 
peat them by rote. What has been said is not intended 
as a lesson for a child in mechanics, but as a sketch of 
a method of teaching which has been employed with 
success. 

Whatever repairs are carried on in a house, children 
should be permitted to see : while everybody about 
them seems interested, they become attentive from 
sympathy ; and whenever action accompanies instruc- 
tion, it is sure to make an impression. If a lock is out 
of order, when it is taken off, show it to your pupil; 
point out some of its principal parts, and name them ; 
then put it into the hands of a child, and let him manage 
it as he pleases. Locks are full of oil, and black with 
dust and iron ; but if children have been taught habits 
of neatness, they may be clockmakers and whitesmiths 
without spoiling their clothes or the furniture of a 
house. Upon every occasion of this sort, technical 
terms should be made familiar ; they are of great use 
in the everyday business of life, and are peculiarly ser- 
viceable in giving orders to workmen, who, when they 
are spoken to in a language that they are used to, com- 
prehend what is said to them, and work with alacrity. 

An early use of a rule and pencil, and easy access to 
prints of machines, of architecture, and of the imple- 
ments of trades, are of obvious use in this part of edu- 
cation. The machines published by the Society of Arts 
in London ; the prints in Desaguliers, Emerson, Le Spec- 
tacle de la Nature, Machines approuvees par FAcademie, 
Chambers's Dictionary, Berthoud sur I'Horlogerie, Dic- 
tionnaire des Arts et des Metiers, may, in succession, 
be put into the hands of children. The most simple 
should be first selected, and the pupils should be accus- 
tomed to attend minutely to one print before another 
is given to them. A proper person should carefully 
point out and explain to them the first prints that they 
examine ; they may afterward be left to themselves. 

To understand prints of machines, a previous knowl- 
edge of what is meant by an elevation, a profile, a sec- 
tion, a perspective view, and a {vue d'oiseau) bird's-eye 
view, is necessary. To obtain distinct ideas of sections, 
a few models of common furniture, as chests of drawers, 
bellows, grates, &c., may be provided, and may be cut 
asunder in different directions. Children easily com- 
prehend this part of drawing and its uses, which may 
P 



338 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

be pointed out in books of architecture ; its application 
to the common business of life is so various and imme- 
diate, as to fix it for ever in the memory ; besides, the 
habit of abstraction, which is acquired by drawing the 
sections of complicated architecture or machinery, is 
highly advantageous to the mind. The parts which we 
wish to express are concealed, and are suggested partly 
by the elevation or profile of the figure, and partly by 
the connexion between the end proposed in the con- 
struction of the building, machine, &c., and the means 
which are adopted to effect it. 

A knowledge of perspective is to be acquired by an 
operation of the mind directly opposite to what is ne- 
cessary in delineating the sections of bodies ; the mind 
must here be intent only upon the objects that are de- 
lineated upon the retina, exactly what we see ; it must 
forget or suspend the knowledge which it has acquired 
from experience, and must see with the eye of child- 
hood, no farther than the surface. Every person who 
is accustomed to drawing in perspective, sees external 
nature, when he pleases, merely as a picture : this habit 
contributes much to form a taste for the fine arts ; it 
may, however, be carried to excess. There are im- 
provers who prefer the most dreary ruin to an elegant 
and convenient mansion, and who prefer a blasted stump 
to the glorious foliage of the oak. 

Perspective is not, however, recommended merely as 
a means of improving the taste, but as it is useful in fa- 
cihtating the knowledge of mechanics. When once 
children are familiarly acquainted with perspective, and 
with the representations of machines by elevations, sec- 
tions, &c., prints will supply them with an extensive 
variety of information ; and when they see real ma- 
chines, their structure and uses will be easily compre- 
hended. The noise, the seeming confusion, and the 
size of several machines, make it difficult to compre- 
hend and combine their various parts, without much 
time and repeated examination; the reduced size of 
prints lays the whole at once before the eye, and tends 
to facilitate not only comprehension, but contrivance. 
Whoever can delineate progressively as he invents, 
saves much labour, much time, and the hazard of con- 
fusion. Various contrivances have been emph)yed to 
facilitate drawing in perspective, as may be seen in 
*' Cabinet de Servier, Memoires of the French Academy, 



MECHANICS. 339 

Philosophical Transactions, and lately in the Repertory 
of Arts." The following is simple, cheap, and portable^ 

PLATE 1. FIG. 1. 

ABC, three mahogany boards, two, four, and six 
inches long, and of the same breadth respectively, so 
as to double in the manner represented. 

PLATE 1. FIG. 2. 

The part A is screwed or clamped to a table of a con- 
venient height, and a sheet of paper, one edge of which 
is put under the piece A, will be held fast to the table. 

The index P is to be set (at pleasure) with its sharp 
point to any part of an object which the eye sees through 
E, the eye-piece. 

The machine is now to be doubled as in Fig. 2. taking 
care that the index be not disturbed ; the point, which 
was before perpendicular, will then approach the paper 
horizontally, and the place to which it points on the 
paper must be marked with a pencil. The machine 
must be again unfolded, and another point of the object 
is to be ascertained in the same manner as before ; the 
space between these points maybe then connected with 
a line ; fresh points should then be taken, marked with 
a pencil and connected with a line ; and so on succes- 
sively, until the whole object is delineated. 

Besides the common terms of art, the technical terms 
of science should, by degrees, be rendered familiar to 
our pupils. Among these the words Space and Time 
occur, as we have observed, the soonest, and are of the 
greatest importance. Without exact definitions, or ab- 
stract reasonings, a general notion of the use of these 
terms may be inculcated by employing them frequently 
in conversation, and by applying them to things and cir- 
cumstances which occur without preparation, and about 
which children are interested or occupied. " There is 
a great space left between the words in that printing." 
The child understands, that space in this sentence means 
white paper between black letters. " You should leave 
a greater space between the flowers which you are 
planting" — he knows that you mean more ground. 
" There is a great space between that boat and the ship" 
— space of water. " I hope the hawk will not be able 
to catch that pigeon, there is a great space between 
them" — space of air. " The men who are pulling that 
P2 



340 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

sack of corn into the granar)% have raised it through 
half the space between the door and the ground." A 
child cannot be at any loss for the meaning of the word 
space in these or any other practical examples which 
may occur ; but he should also be used to the word 
space as a technical expression, and then he will not be 
confused or stopped by a new term when employed in 
mechanics. 

The word time may be used in the same manner upon 
numberless occasions, to express the duration of any 
movement which is performed by the force of men, or 
horses, wind, water, or any mechanical power. 

" Did the horses in the mill we saw yesterday, go as 
fast as the horses which are drawing the chaise 1" — " No, 
not as fast as the horses go at present on level ground ; 
but they went as fast as the chaise-horses do when they 
go up hill, or as fast as horses draw a wagon." 

" How many times do the sails of that windmill go 
round in a minute 1 Let us count ; 1 will look at my 
watch ; do you count how often the sails go round ; wait 
until that broken arm is uppermost, and when you say 
now, I will begin to count the time ; when a minute has 
passed, I will tell you." 

After a few trials, this experiment will become easy 
to a child of eight or nine years old ; he may sometimes 
attend to the watch, and at other times count the turns 
of the sails ; he may easily be made to apply this to a 
horsemill, or to a watermill, a corn-fan, or any machine 
that has a rotary motion ; he will be entertained with 
his new employment ; he will compare the velocities of 
diflferent machines ; the meaning of this word will be 
easily added to his vocabulary. 

" Does that part of the arms of the windmill which is 
near the axletree, or centre, I mean that part which has 
no cloth or sail upon it, go as fast as the ends of the 
arms that are the farthest from the centre T' 

" No, not near so fast." 

" But that part goes as often round in a minute as the 
rest of the sail." 

" Yes, but it does not go as fast." 

"How so?" 

"It does not go so far round." 

•' No, it does not. The extremities of the sails go 
through more space in the same time than the part near 
the centre." 



MECHANICS. 341 

By conversations like these, the technical meaning of 
the word velocity may be made quite familiar to a child 
much younger than what has been mentioned ; he may 
not only comprehend that velocity means time and 
space considered together, but if he is sufficiently ad- 
vanced in arithmetic, he may be readily taught how to 
express and compare in numbers velocities composed of 
certain portions of time and space. He will not inquire 
about the abstract meaning of the word space ; he has 
seen space measured on paper, on timber, on the water, 
in the air, and he perceives distinctly that it is a term 
equally applicable to all distances that can exist between 
objects of any sort, or that he can see, feel, or imagine. 

Momentum, a less common word, the meaning of 
which is not quite so easy to convey to a child, may, 
by degrees, be explained to him : at every instant he 
feels the effect of momentum in his own motions, and 
in the motions of every thing that strikes against him ; 
his feelings and experience require only proper terms 
to become the subject of his conversation. When he 
begins to inquire, it is the proper time to instruct him. 
For instance, a boy of ten years old, who had acquired 
the meaning of some other terms in science, this morn- 
ing asked the meaning of the word momentum ; he was 
desired to explain what he thought it meant. 

He answered, " Force." 

" What do you mean by force V 

" Effi)rt." 

" Of what r' 

" Of gravity." 

" Do you mean that force by which a body is drawn 
down to the earth V' 

" No." 

"Would a feather, if it were moving with the 
greatest conceivable swiftness or velocity, throw down 
a castle V 

" No."* 

" Would a mountain torn up by the roots, as fabled in 
Milton, if it moved with the least conceivable velocity, 
throw down a castle ^" 

" Yes, I think it would." 

The difference between a uniform and a uniformly 

* When this question was some time afterward repeated to S 

he observed, that the feather would throw down the castle, if its 
swiftness were so great as to make up for its want of weight. 



342 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

accelerated motion, the measure of the velocity of fall- 
ing bodies, the composition of motions connnuiiicated 
to the same body in different directions at the same 
time, and the cause of the curvilineal traciv of projectiles, 
seem, at first, intricate subjects, and above the capacity 
of boys of ten or twelve years old; but by short and 
well-timed lessons, they may be explained without con- 
founding or fatiguing their attention. We tried another 
experiment while this chapter w^as writiug, to determine 
whether we liad asserted too much upon this subject. 
After a conversation between two boys upon the descent 
of bodies towards the earth, and upon the measure of the 
increasing velocity with which they fall, they were 
desired, with a view to ascertain whether they under- 
stood what was said, to invent a machine which would 
show the difterence between a uniform and an accel- 
erated velocity, and in particular to show, by ocular 
demonstration, " that if one body moves in a given 
time through a given space, with a uniform motion, 
and if another body moves through the same space in 
the same time with a uniformly accelerated motion, 
the uniform motion of the one will be equal to half the 
accelerated motion of the other." The eldest boy, 

H , thirteen years old, invented and executed the 

following machine for this purpose : 

Plate 1. Fig. 3. -6 is a bracket 9 inches by 5, consist- 
ing of a back and two sides of hard wood : two inches 
from the back two slits are made in the sides of the 
bracket, half an inch deep and an eighth of an inch 
wide, to receive the two wire pivots of a roller; which 
roller is composed of a cylinder, three inches long and 
half an inch diameter; and a cone, three inches long 
and one inch diameter in its largest part or base. The 
cylinder and cone are not separate, but are turned out 
of one piece ; a string is fastened to the cone at its base 
a, with a bullet or any other small weight at the other 
end of it ; and another string and weight are fastened 
to the cylinder at c ; the pivot p of wire is bent into the 
form of a handle ; if the handle is turned either way, 
the strings will be respectively wound up upon the cone 
and cylinder ; their lengths should now be adjusted, so 
that when the string on the cone is wound up as far as 
the cone will permit, the two weights may be at an 
equal distance from the bottom of the bracket, which 
bottom we suppose to be parallel with the pivots ; the 



Pl.l 




;,7^^ 


^un^ 


a.rl^ 







































FiQ-. 3. 




>r '^ Fiy. L. 







MECHANICS. . 343 

bracket should now be fastened against a wall, at such 
a height as to let the weights lightly touch the floor 
■when the strings are unwound : silk or bobbin is a 
proper kind of string for this purpose, as it is woven or 
plaited, and therefore is not liable to twist. When the 
strings arc wound up to their greatest heights, if the 
handle be suddenly let go, both the w^eights will begin 
to fall at the same moment ; but the weight 1 will de- 
scend at first but slowly, and will pass through but small 
space compared with the weight 2. As they descend 
farther, No. 2 still continues to get before No. 1 ; but 
after some time, No. 1 begins to overtake No. 2, and at 
last they come to the ground together. If this machine 
is required to show exactly the space that a falling body 
would describe in given times, the cone and cylinder 
must have grooves cut spirally upon their circumference, 
to direct the string with precision. To describe these 
spiral lines, became a new subject of inquiry. The 
young mechanics were again eager to exert their 
powers of invention ; the eldest invented a machine 
upon the same principle as that which is used by the 
best workmen for cutting clock fusees ; and it is de- 
scribed in Berthoud. The youngest invented the engine 
delineated, Plate 1, Fig. 4. 

The roller or cone (or both together) which it is re- 
quired to cut spirally, must be furnished with a handle, 
and a toothed wheel ii%, which turns a smaller wheel or 
pinion to. This pinion carries with it a screw s, which 
drawls forward the puppet p, in v/hich the graver or 
chisel g slides luiihout shake. This graver has a point 
or edge shaped properly to form the spiral groove, with 
a shoulder to regulate the depth of the groove. The 
iron rod r, w^hich is firmly fastened in the puppet, slides 
through mortises at mm, and guides the puppet in a 
straight line. 

The rest of the machine is intelligible from the 
drawing. 

A simple method of showing the nature of compound 
forces was thought of at the same time. An ivory ball 
was placed at the corner of a board sixteen inches 
broad and two feet long; two other similar balls were 
let fall down inclined troughs against the first ball in 
different directions, but at the same time. One fell in 
a direction parallel to the length of the board ; the other 
ball fell back in a direction parallel to its breadth. By 



344 , PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

raising the troughs, such a force was communicated 
to each of the falling balls, as was sufficient to drive 
the ball that was at rest to that side or end of the board 
which was opposite, or at right angles, to the line of its 
motion. 

When both balls were let fall together, they drove 
the ball that was at rest diagonally, so as to reach the 
opposite corner. If the same board were placed as an 
inclined plane, at an angle of five or six degrees, a ball 
placed at one of its uppermost corners would fall with 
an accelerated motion in a direct line ; but if another 
ball were made (by descending through an inclined 
trough) to strike the first ball at right angles to the line 
of its former descent, at the moment when it began to 
descend, it would not, as in the former experiment, move 
diagonally, but would describe a curve. 

The reason why it describes a curve, and why that 
curve is not circular, was easily understood. Children 
who are thus induced to invent machines or apparatus 
for explaining and demonstrating the laws of mechanism, 
not only fix indelibly those laws in their own minds, 
but enlarge their powers of invention, and preserve a 
certain originality of thought, which leads to new dis- 
coveries. 

We therefore strongly recommend it to teachers, to 
use as few precepts as possible in the rudiments of sci- 
ence, and to encourage their pupils to use their own 
understandings as they advance. In mechanism, a 
general view of the powers and uses of engines is all 
that need be taught; where more is necessary, such a 
foundation, with the assistance of good books and the 
examination of good machinery, will perfect the knowl- 
edge of theory and facilitate practice. 

At first we should not encumber our pupils with ac- 
curate demonstration. The application of mathematics 
to mechanics is undoubtedly of the highest use, and has 
opened a source of ingenious and important inquiry. 
Archimedes, the greatest name among mechanic phi- 
losophers, scorned the mere practical application of his 
sublime discoveries ; and at the moment when the most 
stupendous effects were producing by his engines, he 
was so deeply absorbed in abstract speculation as to be 
insensible to the fear of death. We do not mean, there- 
fore, to undervalue either the application of strict de- 
monstration to problems in mechanics, or the exhibition 



MECHANICS. 345 

of the most accurate machinery in philosophical lec- 
tures ; but we wish to point out a method of giving a 
general notion of the njechanical organs to our pupils, 
which shall be immediately obvious to their compre- 
hension, and which may serve as a sure foundation for 
future improvement. We are told by a vulgar proverb, 
that though we believe what we see, we have yet a 
higher belief in what we feel. This adage is particularly 
applicable to mechanics. When a person perceives 
the effect of his own bodily exertions with different 
engines, and when he can compare in a rough manner 
their relative advantages, he is not disposed to reject 
their assistance, or expect more than is reasonable from 
their application. The young theorist in mechanics 
thinks he can produce a perpetual motion ! When he 
has been accustomed to refer to the plain dictates of 
common sense and experience on this, as well as on 
every other subject, he will not easily be led astray by 
visionary theories. 

To bring the sense of feeling to our assistance in 
teaching the uses of the mechanic powers, the following 
apparatus was constructed, to which we have given the 
name Panorganon. 

It is composed of two principal parts; a frame to 
contain the moving machinery, and a capstan or wind- 
lass, which is erected on a sUl or plank, that is sunk a 
few inches into the ground : the frame is, by this means» 
and by six braces or props, rendered steady. The cross 
rail, or transom, is strengthened by braces and a king- 
post to make it lighter and cheaper. The capstan con- 
sists of an upright shaft, upon which are fixed two 
drums, about which a rope may be wound up, and two 
levers or arms, by which it may be turned round. 
There is also a screw of iron coiled round the lower 
part of the shaft, to show the properties of the screw as 
a mechanic power. The rope which goes round the 
drum passes over one of the pulleys near to the top of 
the frame, and under another pulley near the bottom of 
the frame. As two drums of different sizes are em- 
ployed, it is necessary to have an upright roller to con- 
duct the rope in a proper direction to the pulleys, when 
either of the drums is used. Near the frame, and in 
the direction in which the rope runs, is laid a plat- 
form or road of deal boards, one board in breadth, and 
twenty or thirty feet long, upon v»^hich a small sledge> 
P3 



346 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

loaded with diflferent weights, may be drawn. Plate 2. 
Fiff. 1. 

F F. The frame. 

b b. Braees to keep the frame steady. 

a a a. Angular braces to strengthen the transom ; 
and also a king-post. 

S. A round, taper shaft, strengthened above and be- 
low the mortises with iron hoops. 

L L. Two arms, or levers, by which the shaft, &c. 
are to be moved round. 

D D. The dram, which has two rims of different cir- 
cumferences. 

R. The roller to conduct the rope. 

P. The pulley, round which the rope passes to the 
larger drum. 

P 2. Another pulley, to answer to the smaller drum. 

P 3. A pulley through which the rope passes when 
experiments are tried with levers, &c. 

P 4. Another pulley, through which the rope passes 
when the sledge is used. 

Ro. The road of deal boards for the sledge to move 
on. 

SI. The sledge, with pieces of hard wood attached 
to it, to guide it on the road. 

V^es of the Panorganon. 
As this machine is to be moved by the force of men 
or children, and as their force varies not only with the 
strength and weight of each individual, but also accord- 
ing to the different manner in which that strength or 
weight is applied ; it is, in the first place, requisite to 
establish one determinate mode of applying human force 
to the machine ; and also a method of determining the 
relative force of each individual whose strength is ap- 
plied to it. 

To estimate the force loith which a 'person can draio horizon- 
tally by a rope over his shoulder. 

EXPERIMENT I. 

Hang a common long scale-beam (without scales or 
chains) from the top or transom of the frame, so that one 
end of it may come within an inch of one side or post 
of the machine. Tie a rope to the hook of the scale- 
beam, where the chains of the scale are usually hung, 
and pass it through the pulley P 3, which is about four 



x'.x^[r\fii'.A:^u^ 




MECHANICS. 347 

feet from the ground ; let the person pull this rope from 
1 towards 2, turning his back to the machine, and pulling 
the rope over his shoulder — PI. 2. Fig. 6. As the pulley- 
may be either too high or too low to permit the rope to 
be horizontal, the person who pulls it should be placed 
ten or fifteen feet from the machine, which will lessen 
the angular direction of the cord, and the inaccuracy of 
the experiment. Hang weights to the other end of the 
scale-beam, until the person who pulls can but just walk 
forward, pulling fairly, without propping his feet against 
any thing. This weight will estimate the force with 
which he can draw horizontally by a rope over his shoul- 
der.* Let a child who tries this, walk on the board with 
dry shoes ; let him afterward chalk his shoes, and after- 
ward try it with his shoes soaped : he will find that he 
can pull with different degrees of force in these differ- 
ent circumstances ; but when he tries the following ex- 
periments, let his shoes be always dry, that his force 
may be always the same. 

To show the power of the three different sorts of levers^ 

EXPERIMENT H. 

Instead of putting the cord that comes from the scale- 
beam, as in the last experiment, over the shoulder of 
the boy, hook it to the end 1 of the lever L, Fig 2. Plate 
2. This lever is passed through a socket — Plate 2. Fig. 
3. — in which it can be shifted from one of its ends to- 
wards the other, and can be fastened at any place by the 
screw of the socket. This socket has two gudgeons, 
upon which it, and the lever which it contains, can turn. 
This socket and its gudgeons can be hfted out of the 
holes in which it plays, between the rail R R, Plate 2. 
Fig. 2. and may be put into other holes at R R, Fig. 5. 
Loop another rope to the other end of this lever, and let 
the boy pull as before. Perhaps it should be pointed 
out, that the boy must walk in a direction contrary to 
that in which he walked before, viz., from 1 towards 3. 
The height to which the weight ascends, and the dis- 
tance to which the boy advances, should be carefully 

* Were it thought necessary to make these experiments perfectly 
accurate, a segment of a pulley, the radius of which is half the length 
of the scale-beam, should be attached to the end of the beam, upon, 
which the cord may apply itself; and the pulley (P 3) should be 
raised or lowered, to bring the rope horizontally from the man's 
shoulder when in the attitude of drawing. 



348 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

marked and measured ; and it will be found that he can 
raise the weight to the same height, advancing through 
the same space, as in the former experiment. In this 
case, as both ends of the lever moved through equal 
spaces, the lever only changed the direction of the mo- 
tion, and added no mechanical power to the direct 
strength of the boy. 

EXPERIMENT III. 

Shift the lever to its extremity in the socket; the 
middle of the lever will be now opposite to the pulley, 
PI. 2. Fig. 4. — hook to it the rope that goes through the 
pulley P 3, and fasten to the other end of the lever the 
rope by which the boj'' is to pull. This will be a lever 
of the second kind, as it is called in books of mechanics ; 
in using which, the resistance is placed between the centre of 
motion or fulcrum, and the moving power. He will now 
raise double the weight that he did in Experiment ii, and 
he will advance through double the space. 

EXPERIMENT IV. 

Shift the lever, and the socket which forms the axis 
(without shifting the lever from the place in which it 
was in the socket in the last experiment), to the holes 
that are prepared for it at R R, Plate 2. Fig. 5. The 
free end of the lever E will now be opposite to the rope, 
and to the pulley (over which the rope comes from the 
scale-beam). Hook this rope to it, and hook the rope 
by which the boy pulls, to the middle of the lever. The 
effect will now be different from what it was in the two 
last experiments ; the boy will advance only half as far, 
and will raise only half as much weight as before. This 
is called a lever of the third sort. The first and second 
kinds of levers are used in quarrying ; and the opera- 
tions of many tools may be referred to them. The third 
kind of lever is employed but seldom, but its properties 
may be observed with advantage while a long ladder is 
raised, as the man who raises it is obliged to exert an 
increasing force until the ladder is nearly perpendicular. 
When this lever is used, it is obvious, from what has 
been said, that the power must always pass through less 
space than the thing which is to be moved ; it can never, 
therefore, be of service in gaining power. But the ob- 
ject of some machines is to increase velocity, instead 
of obtaining power, as in a sledge-hammer moved by 



MECHANICS, 349 

mill-work. (See the plates in Emerson's Mechanics, 
No. 236.) 

The experiments upon levers may be varied at pleas- 
ure, increasing or diminishing the mechanical advantage, 
so as to balance the power and the resistance, to accus- 
tom the learners to calculate the relation between the 
power and the effect in diiferent circumstances ; always 
pointing out that whatever excess there is in the power* 
or in the resistance, is always compensated by the differ- 
ence of space through which the inferior passes. 

The experiments which we have mentioned are suffi- 
ciently satisfactory to a pupil, as to the immediate re- 
lation between the power and the resistance ; but the 
different spaces through which the power and the resist- 
ance move when one exceeds the other, cannot be ob- 
vious, unless they pass through much larger spaces than 
levers will permit. 

EXPERIMENT V, 

Place the sledge on the farthest end of the wooden 
road — Plate 2. Fig. 1. — fasten a rope to the sledge, and 
conduct it through the lowest pulley P 4, and through 
the pulley P 3, so that the boy may be enabled to draw 
it by the rope passed over his shoulder. The sledge 
must now be loaded, until the boy can but just advance 
with short steps steadily upon the wooden road ; this 
must be done with care, as there will be but just room 
for him beside the rope. He will meet the sledge ex- 
actly on the middle of the road, from which he must 
step aside to pass the sledge. Let the time of this ex- 
periment be noted. It is obvious that the boy and the 
sledge move with equal velocity ; there is, therefore, no 
mechanical advantage obtained by the pulleys. The 
weight that he can draw will be about half a hundred, 
if he weigh about nine stone ; but the exact force with 
which the boy draws, is to be known by Experiment i. 

T%e wheel and axle. 
This organ is usually called in mechanics, The axis in 
peritrochio. A hard name, which might well be spared, 
as the word windlass or capstan would convey a more 
distinct idea to our pupils. 

* The word power is here used in a popular sense, to denote the 
strength or efficacy that is employed to produce an effect by means 
of any engine.. 



350 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

EXPERIMENT VI. / 

To the largest drum, Plate 2. Fig. 1. fasten a cord, and 
pass it through the pulley P downward, and through the 
pulley P 4 to the sledge placed at the end of the wooden 
road, which is farthest from the machine. Let the boy, 
by a rope fastened to the extremity of one of the arms 
of the capstan, and passed over his shoulder, draw the 
capstan round ; he will wind the rope round the drum, 
and draw the sledge upon its road. To make the sledge 
advance twenty-four feet upon its road, the boy must 
have walked circularly 144 feet, which is six times as 
far, and he will be able to draw about three hundred 
weight, which is six times as much as in the last experi- 
ment. 

It may now be pointed out, that the difference of 
space passed through by the power in this experiment, 
is exactly equal to the difference of weight which the 
boy could draw without the capstan. 

EXPERIMENT VII. 

Let the rope be now attached to the smaller drum ; 
the boy will draw nearly twice as much weight upon 
the sledge as before, and will go through double the 
space. 

EXPERIMENT VIII. 

Where there are a number of boys, let five or six of 
them, whose power of drawing (estimated as in Experi- 
ment i) amounts to six times as much as the force of the 
boy at the capstan, pull at the end of the rope which 
ivas fastened to the sledge ; they will balance the force 
of the boy at the capstan : either they or he, by a sud- 
den pull, may advance, — but if they pull fairly, there 
will be no advantage on either part. In this experiment 
the rope should pass through the pulley P 3, and should 
be coiled around the larger drum. And it must be also 
observed, that in all experiments upon the motion of 
bodies in which there is much friction, as where a 
sledge is employed, the results are never so uniform as 
in other circumstances. 

The Pulley, 
Upon the pulley we shall say little, as it is in every- 
body's hands, and experiments may be tried upon it 
without any particular apparatus. It should, however. 



MECHANICS. 351 

be distinctly inculcated, that the power is not increased 
by a fixed pulley. For this purpose, a wheel without a 
rim, or, to speak with more propriety, a number of 
spokes fixed in a nave, should be employed. (Plate 2. 
Fig. 9.) Pieces like the heads of crutches should be 
fixed at the ends of these spokes, to receive a piece of 
girth- web, which is used instead of a cord, because a 
cord would be unsteady ; and a strap of iron with a hook 
to it should play upon the centre, by which it may at 
times be suspended, and from which at other times a 
weight may be hung. 

EXPERIMENT IX. 

Let the skeleton of a pulley be hung by the iron strap 
from the transom of the frame ; fasten a piece of web 
to one of the radii, and another to the end of the opposite 
radius. If two boys of equal weight pull these pieces 
of girth-web, they will balance each other ; or two equal 
weights hung to these webs will be in equilibrio. If a 
piece of girth-web be put round the uppermost radius, 
two equal weights hung at the ends of it will remain 
immoveable ; but if either of them be pulled, or if a 
small additional weight be added to either of them, it 
will descend, and the web will apply itself successively 
to the ascending radii, and will detach itself from those 
that are descending. If this movement be carefully 
considered, it will be perceived that the web, in unfold- 
ing itself, acts in the same manner upon the radii as 
two ropes would, if they were hung to the extremities 
of the opposite radii in succession. The two radii 
which are opposite may be considered as a lever of the 
first sort, where the centre is in the middle of the lever ; 
as each end moves through an equal space, there is no 
mechanical advantage. But if this skeleton-pulley be 
employed as a common block or tackle its motions and 
properties will be entirely different. 

EXPERIMENT X. PLATE 2. FIG. 9. 

Nail a piece of girth-web to a post, at the distance of 
three or four feet from the ground ; fasten the other end 
of it to one of the radii. Fasten another piece of web 
to the opposite radius, and let a boy hold the skeleton- 
pulley suspended by the web ; hook weights to the strap 
that hangs from the centre. The end of the radius to 
which the fixed girth-web is fastened will remain im- 



352 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

moveable ; but, if the boy pulls the web which he holds 
in his hand upward, he will be able to lift nearly double 
the weight which he can raise from the ground by a 
simple rope, without the machine, and he will perceive 
that his hand moves through twice as great a space as 
the weight ascends : he has, therefore, the mechanical 
advantage which he would have by a lever of the second 
sort, as in Experiment in. Let a piece of web be put 
round the under radii ; let one end of it be nailed to the 
post, and the other be held by the boy, and it will repre- 
sent the application of a rope to a moveable pulley ; if 
its motion be carefully considered, it will appear that 
the radii, as they successively apply themselves to the 
web, represent a series of levers of the second kind. 
A pulley is nothing more than an infinite number of 
such levers ; the cord at one end of the diameter serving 
as a fulcrum for the organ during its progress. If this 
skeleton-pulley be used horizontally instead of perpen- 
dicularly, the circumstances which have been mentioned 
will appear more obvious. 

Upon the wooden road lay down a piece of girth- web ; 
nail one end of it to the road ; place the pulley upon the 
web at the other end of the board, and, bringing the web 
over the radii, let the boy, taking hold of it, draw the 
loaded sledge fastened to the hook at the centre of the 
pulley : he will draw nearly twice as much in this man- 
ner as he could without the pulley.* 

Here the web, lying on the road, shows more distinctly 
that it is quiescent where the lowest radius touches it ; 
and if the radii, as they tread upon it, are observed, their 
points will appear at rest, while the centre of the pulley 
will go as fast as the sledge, and the top of each radius 
successively (and the boy's hand which unfolds the web) 
will move twice as fast as the centre of the pulley and 
the sledge. 

If a person holding a stick in his hand observes the 
relative motions of the top, and the middle, and the bot- 
tom of the stick, while he inclines it, he will see that the 
bottom of the stick has no motion on the ground, and 
that the middle has only half the motion of the top. 
This property of the pulley has been dwelt upon, because 

* In all these experiments with the skeleton-pulley, somebody 
must keep it in its proper direction ; as from its structure, which is 
contrived for illustration, not for practical use, it cannot retain its 
proper situation without assistance. 



MECIIAMCS. 353 

it elucidates the motion of a wheel rolling upon the 
ground; and it explains a common paradox, which 
appears at first inexplicable. " The bottom of a rolling- 
wheel never moves upon the road." This is asserted 
only of a wheel moving over hard ground, which, in fact, 
may be considered rather as laying down its circum- 
ference upon the road, than as moving upon it. 

The inclined Plane and the Wedge. 

The inclined plane is to be next considered. When a 
heavy body is to be raised, it is often convenient to lay 
a sloping, artificial road of planks, up which it may be 
pushed or drawn. This mechanical power, however, is 
but of little service without the assistance of wheels or 
rollers ; we shall, therefore, speak of it as it is applied 
in another manner, under the name of the ivedge, which 
is, in fact, a moving inclined plane ; but if it is required to 
explain the properties of the inclined plane by the Panor- 
ganon, the wooden road may be raised and set to any 
inclination that is required, and the sledge may be drawn 
upon it as in the former experiments. 

Let one end of a lever, N, Plate 2. Fig. 7., with a wheel 
at one end of it, be hinged to the post of the frame, by 
means of a gudgeon driven or screwed into the post. 
To prevent this lever from deviating sideways, let a slip 
of wood be connected with it by a nail, which shall be 
fast in the lever, but which moves freely in a hole in the 
rail. The other end of this slip must be fastened to a 
stake driven into the ground at three or four feet from 
the lever, atone side of it, and towards the end in which 
the wheel is fixed (Plate 2. Fig. 10. which is a vue 
d''oiseau), in the same manner as the treadle of a common 
lathe is managed, and as the treadle of a loom is some- 
times guided.* 

EXPERIMENT XI. 

Under the wheel of this lever place an inclined plane 
or half-wedge (Plate 2. Fig. 7.) on the wooden road, 
with rollers under it, to prevent friction ;t fasten a rope 

* In a loom, this secondary lever is called a lamb, by mistake, for 
lam, from lamvia, a slip of wood. 

t There should be three rollers used ; one of them must be placed 
before the sledge, under winch it will easily find its place, if the 
bottom of the sledge near the foremost end is a little sloped upward. 
To retain this foremost roller in its place until the sledge meets it, it 
should be stuck lightly on the road with two small bits of wax or pitch. 



354 PRACTICAL EDUCATION'. 

to the foremost end of the wedge, and pass it through 
the pulleys (P 4 and P 3) as in the fifth experiment. 
Let a boy draw the sledge by this rope over his shoulder, 
and he will find, that as it advances it will raise the 
weight upward ; the wedge is five feet long, and ele- 
vated one foot. Now, if the perpendicular ascent of the 
weight, and the space through which he advances, be 
compared, he will find that the space through which he 
has passed will be five times as great as that through 
which the weight has ascended ; and that this wedge 
has enabled him to raise five times as much as he could 
raise without it, if his strength were applied, as in Ex- 
periment I., without any mechanical advantage. By 
making this wedge in two parts hinged together, with a 
graduated piece to keep them asunder, the wedge may 
be adjusted to any given obliquity ; and it will be always 
found, that the mechanical advantage of the wedge may 
be ascertained by comparing its perpendicular elevation 
with its base. If the base of the wedge is 2, 3, 4, 5, or 
any other number of times greater than its height, it 
will enable the boy to raise respectively 2, 3, 4, or 5 
times more weight than he could do in Experiment i., 
by which his power is estimated. 

The Screiv. 
The screw is an inclined plane wound round a cylinder ; 
the height of all its revolutions round the cylinder taken 
together, compared with the space through which the 
power that turns it passes, is the measure of its me- 
chanical advantage * Let the lever used in the last 
experiment be turned in such a manner as to reach from 
its gudgeon to the shaft of the Panorganon, guided by 
an attendant lever as before. (Plate 2. Fig. 8.) Let 
the wheel rest upon the lowest helix or thread of the 
screw : as the arms of the shaft are turned round the 
wheel will ascend, and carry up the weight which is 
fastened to the lever. f As the situation of the screw 
prevents the weight from being suspended exactly from 

* Mechanical advantage is not a proper term, but our language is 
deficient in proper technical terms. The word power is used so 
indiscriminately, that it is scarcely possible to convey our meaning 
without employing it more strictly. 

t In this experiment, the boy should pull as near as possible to 
the shaft, withm a foot of it, for instance, else he will have such 
mechanical advantage as cannot be counterbalanced by any weight 
which the machine would be strong enough to bear. 



MECHANICS. 355 

the centre of the screw, proper allowance must be made 
for this in estimating the force of the screw, or deter- 
mining the mechanical advantage gained by the lever: 
this can be done by measuring the perpendicular ascent 
of the weight, which in all cases is better, and more ex- 
peditious, than measuring the parts of a machine, and 
estimating its force by calculation ; because the different 
diameters of ropes, and other small circumstances, are 
frequently mistaken in estimates. 

The space passed through by the moving power and 
by that which it moves, are infallible data for estimating 
the powers of engines. Two material subjects of ex- 
periments yet remain for the Panorganon ; friction, and 
wheels of carriages : but we have already extended this 
article far beyond its just proportion to similar chapters 
in this work. We repeat, that it is not intended in this, 
or in any other part of our design, to write treatises 
upon science ; but merely to point out methods for 
initiating young people in the rudiments of knowledge, 
and of giving them a clear and distinct view of those 
principles upon which they are founded. No preceptor 
Avho has had experience, will cavil at the superficial 
knowledge of a boy of twelve or thirteen upon these 
subjects ; he will perceive, that the general view which 
we wish to give our pupils of the useful arts and sci- 
ences, must certainly tend to form a taste for literature 
and investigation. The sciolist has learned only to talk — 
M'C wish to teach our pupils to think, upon the various 
objects of human speculation. 

The Panorganon may be employed in trying the re- 
sistance of air and water ; the force of different mus- 
cles ; and in a great variety of amusing and useful ex- 
periments. In academies and private families it may 
be erected in the place allotted for amusement, where 
it will furnish entertainment for many a vacant hour. 
When it has lost its novelty, the shaft may from time 
to time be taken down, and a swing may be suspended 
in its place. It may be constructed at the expense of 
five or six pounds : that which stands before our win- 
dow was made for less than three guineas, as we had 
many of the materials beside us for other purposes.. 



356 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CHYMISTRY. 

In the first attempts to teach chymistry to children, 
objects should be selected, the principal properties of 
which may be easily discriminated by the senses of 
touch, taste, or smell ; and such terms should be em- 
ployed as do not require accurate definition. 

When a child has been caught in a shower of snow, 
he goes to the fire to warm and dry himself. After he 
has been before the fire for some time, instead of be- 
coming dry, he finds that he is wetter than he was be- 
fore : water drops from his hat and clothes, and the 
snow with which he was covered disappears. If you 
ask him what has become of the snow, and why he has 
become wetter, he cannot tell you. Give him a teacup 
of snow, desire him to place it before tiie fire, he per- 
ceives that the snow melts, that it becomes water. If 
he puts his finger into the water, he finds that it is 
warmer than snow; he then perceives that the fire 
which warmed him warmed likewise the snow, which 
then became water ; or, in other words, he discovers 
that the heat which came from the fire goes into the 
snow and melts it : he thus acquires the idea of the dis- 
solution of snow by heat. 

If the cup containing the water, or melted snow, be 
taken from the fire and put out of the window on a 
frosty day, he perceives that in time the water grows 
colder ; that a thin, brittle skin spreads over it, which 
grows thicker by degrees, till at length all the water be- 
comes ice ; and if the cup be again put before the fire, 
the ice returns to water. Thus he discovers, that by 
diminishing the heat of water, it becomes ice ; by add- 
ing heat to ice, it becomes water. 

A child watches the drops of melted sealing-wax as 
they fall upon paper. When he sees you stir the wax 
about, and perceives that what was formerly hard now 
becomes soft and very hot, he will apply his former 
knowledge of the eff"ects of heat upon ice and snow, and 
he will tell you that the heat of the candle melts the wax. 



CHYMISTRY. 357 

By these means, the principle of the solution of bodies 
by heat will be imprinted upon his memory ; and you 
may now enlarge his ideas of solution. 

When a lump of sugar is put into a dish of hot tea, a 
child sees that it becomes less and less, till at last it dis- 
appears. What has become of the sugar 1 Your pupil 
will say that it is melted by the heat of the tea : but if 
it be put into cold tea, or cold water, he will find that it 
dissolves, though more slowly. You should then show 
him some fine sand, som^ clay, and chalk, thrown into 
water ; and he will perceive the difference between me- 
chanical mixture and diffusion, or chymical mixture. 
Chymical mixture, as that of sugar in water, depends 
upon the attraction that subsists between the parts of 
the solid and fluid which are combined. Mechanical 
mixture is only the suspension of the parts of a solid in 
a fluid. When fine sand, chalk, or clay is put into water, 
the water continues for some time turbid or muddy ; but 
by degrees the sand, &c. falls to the bottom, and the 
water becomes clear. In the chymical mixture of sugar 
and water there is no muddiness ; the fluid is clear and 
transparent, even while it is stirred, and when it is at 
rest, there is no sediment ; the sugar is joined with the 
water ; a new fluid substance is formed out of the two 
simple bodies, sugar and water, and though the parts 
which compose the mixture are not discernible to the 
eye, yet they are perceptible by the taste. 

After he has observed the mixture, the child should 
be asked whether he knows any method by which he 
can separate the sugar from the water. In the boiling 
of a kettle of water, he has seen the steam which issues 
from the mouth of the vessel ; he knows that the steam 
is formed by the heat from the fire, which, joining with 
the water, drives its parts farther asunder, and makes it 
take another form, that of vapour or steam. He may 
apply this knowledge to the separation of the sugar and 
water ; he may turn the water into steam, and the sugar 
will be left in a vessel in a solid form. If, instead of 
evaporating the water, the boy had added a greater 
quantity of sugar to the mixture, he would have seen 
that after a certain time the water would dissolve 
no more of the sugar ; the superfluous sugar would fall 
to the bottom of the vessel as the sand had done : the 
pupil should then be told that the liquid is saturated with 
the solid. 



358 PRACTICAL EDtCATION. 

By these simple experiments, a child may acquire a 
general knowledge of solution, evaporation, and satura- 
tion, without the formality of a lecture or the apparatus 
of a chymist. In all your attempts to instruct him in 
chymistry, the greatest care should be taken that he 
should completely understand one experiment before 
yon proceed to another. The common metaphorical 
expression, that the mind should have time to digest 
the food which it receives, is founded upon fact and ob- 
servation. • 

Our pupil should see the solution of a variety of sub- 
stances in fluids, as salt in water ; marble, chalk, or 
alkalis, in acids ; and camphire in spirits of wine : this 
last experiment he may try by himself, as it is not dan- 
gerous. Certainly many experiments are dangerous, 
and therefore unfit for children ; but others may be se- 
lected, which they may safely try without any assist- 
ance ; and the dangerous experiments may, when they 
are necessary, be shown to them by some careful per- 
son. Their first experiments should be such as they 
can readily execute, and of which the result may proba- 
bly be successful : this success will please and interest 
the pupils, and will encourage them to perseverance. 

A child may have some spirit of wine and some cam- 
phire given to him : the camphire will dissolve in the 
spirit of wine, the spirit is saturated ; but then he will be 
at a loss how to separate them again. To separate 
them, he must pour into the mixture a considerable 
quantity of water ; he will immediately see the liquor, 
which was transparent, become muddy and white: this 
is owing to the separation of the camphire from the 
spirit ; the camphire falls to the bottom of the vessel in 
the form of a curd. If the child had weighed the cam- 
phire, both before and after its solution, he would have 
found the result nearly the same. He should be in- 
formed that this chymical operation (for technical terms 
should now be used) is called precipitation : the sub- 
stance that is separated from the mixture by the intro- 
duction of another body, is cast down, or precipitated 
from the mixture. In this instance, the spirit of wine at- 
tracted the camphire, and therefore dissolved it. When 
the water was poured in, the spirit of wine attracted the 
water more strongly than it did the camphire ; the cam- 
phire being let loose, fell to the bottom of the vessel. 

The pupil has now been shown two methods by 



A 



CHYMISTRY. 359 

which a solid may be separated from a fluid in which it 
has been dissolved. 

A still should now be produced, and the pupil should 
be instructed in the nature of distillation. By experi- 
ments he will learn the difference between the volatility 
of different bodies ; or, in other words, he will learn that 
some are made fluid, or are turned into vapour, by a 
greater or less degree of heat than others. The de- 
grees of heat should be shown to him by the thermome- 
ter; and the use of the thermometer, and its nature, 
should be explained. As the pupil already knows that 
most bodies expand by heat, he will readily understand, 
that an increase of heat expands the mercury in the 
bulb of the thermometer, which, having no other space 
for its expansion, rises in the small glass tube ; and that 
the degree of heat to which it is exposed, is marked by 
the figures on the scale of the instrument. 

The business of distillation is to separate the more 
volatile from the less volatile of two bodies. The whole 
mixture is put into a vessel, under which there is fire : 
the most volatile liquor begins first to turn into vapour, 
and rises into a higher vessel, which, being kept cold by 
water or snow, condenses the evaporated fluid ; after it 
has been condensed, it drops into another vessel. In 
the experiment that the child has just tried, after having 
separated the camphire from the spirit of wine by pre- 
cipitation, he may separate the spirit from the water by 
distillation. When the substance that rises, or that is 
separated from other bodies by heat, is a solid, or when 
what is collected after the operation is solid, the pro- 
cess is not called distillation, but sublimation. 

Our pupil may next be made acquainted with the 
general qualities of acids and alkalis. For instructing 
him in this part of chymistry, definition should as much 
as possible be avoided ; example, and ocular demon- 
stration, should be pursued. Who would begin to ex- 
plain by words the difference between an acid and an 
alkali, when these can be shown by experiments upon 
the substances themselves 1 The first great difference 
which is perceptible between an acid and an alkali, is 
their taste. Let a child have a distinct perception of the 
difference of their tastes ; let him be able to distinguish 
them when his eyes are shut ; let him taste the strong- 
est of each, so as not to hurt him ; and when he has 
once acquired distinct notions of the pungent taste of 



360 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

an alkali and of the sour taste of an acid, he will never 
forget the difference. He must afterward see the effects 
of an acid and an alkali on the blue colour of vegetables at 
separate limes, and not on the same day ; by these means 
he will more easily remember the experiments, and he 
will not confound their different results. The blue col- 
our of vegetables is turned red by acids and green by 
alkalis. Let your pupil take a radish, and scrape off 
the blue part into water ; it should be left for some 
time, until the water becomes of a blue colour: let him 
pour some of this liquor into two glasses ; add vinegar 
or lemon juice to one of them, and the liquor will be- 
come red ; dissolve some alkali in water, and pour this 
into the other glass, and the dissolved radish will be- 
come green. If into the red mixture alkali be poured, 
the colour will change into green ; and if into the liquor 
which was made green, acid be poured, the colour will 
change to red : thus alternately you may pour acid or 
alkali, and produce a red or green colour successively. 
Paper stained with the blue colour of vegetables is called 
test paper ; this is changed by the least powerful of 
the acids or alkalis, and will, therefore, be peculiarly 
useful in the first experiments of our young pupils. A 
child should for safety use the weakest acids in his first 
trials, but he should be shown that the effects are simi- 
lar, whatever acids we employ ; only the colour will be 
darker when we make use of the strong, than when we 
use the weak acids. By degrees the pupil should be ac- 
customed to employ the strong acids ; such as the vitri- 
olic, the nitric, and the muriatic, which three are called 
fossil acids, to distinguish them from the vegetable, or 
weaker acids. We may be permitted to advise the 
young chymist to acquire the habit of wiping the neck 
of the vessel out of which he pours any strong acid, as 
the drops of the liquor will not then burn his hand when 
he takes hold of the bottle ; nor will they injure the table 
upon which he is at work. This custom, trivial as it 
may seem, is of advantage, as it gives an appearance of 
order, and of ease and steadiness, which are all neces- 
sary in trying chymical experiments. The little pupil 
may be told, that the custom which we have just men- 
tioned is the constant practice of the great chymist, 
Dr. Black. 

We should take care how we first use the term salt 
in speaking to a child, lest he should acquire indis- 



CHYMISTRY. 361 

tiiict ideas : he should be told that the kind of salt which 
he eats is not the only salt in the world ; he may be 
put in mind of the kind of salts which he has, perhaps, 
smelt in smelling-bottles ; and he should be farther 
told, that there are a number of earthy, alkaline, and 
metallic salts, with which he will in time become ac- 
quainted. 

When an acid is put upon an alkali, or upon limestone, 
chalk, or marl, a bubbling may be observed, and a noise 
is heard ; a child should be told that this is called 
effervescence. After some time the effervescence ceases, 
and the limestone, &c. is dissolved in the acid. This 
effervescence, the child should be informed, arises from 
the escape of a considerable quantity of a particular 
sort of air, called fixed air, or carbonic acid gas. In the 
solution of the lime in the acid, the lime and acid have 
an attraction for one another ; but as the present mix- 
ture has no attraction for the gas, it escapes, and in 
rising forms the bubbling or effervescence. This may be 
proved to a child, by showing him that if an acid is 
poured upon caustic hme (lime which has had this 
gas taken from it by fire) there will be no efferves- 
cence. 

There are various other chymical experiments with 
which children may amuse themselves; they may be 
employed in analyzing marl, or clays ; they may be pro- 
vided with materials for making ink or soap. It should 
be pointed out to them, that the common domestic and 
culinary operations of making butter and cheese, baking, 
brewing, &;c., are all chymical processes. We hope the 
reader will not imagine, that we have in this slight 
sketch pretended to point out the best experiments 
which can be devised for children ; we have only offered 
a few of the simplest which occurred to us, that parents 
may not, at the conclusion of this chapter, exclaim, 
" What is to be done^ How are we to begin? What 
experiments are suited to children ? If we knew, our 
children should try them." 

It is of little consequence what particular experiment 
is selected for the first ; we only wish to show that the 
minds of children may be turned to this subject ; and 
that, by accustoming them to observation, we give them 
not only the power of learning what has been already 
discovered, but of adding, as they grow older, some- 
thing to the general stock of human knowledge. 
Q 



3G2 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



ON PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 

The anxious parent, after what has been said concern- 
ing tasks and classical hteratnre, will inquire whether 
the whole plan of education recommended in the follow- 
ing pages. is intended to relate to public or to private 
education. It is intended to relate to both. It is not 
usual to send children to school before they are eight or 
nine years old; our first object is to show how educa- 
tion may be conducted to that age in such a manner, 
that children may be well prepared for the acquisition 
of all the knowledge usually taught at schools, and may 
be perfectly free from many of the faults that pupils 
sometimes have acquired before they are sent to any 
public seminary. It is obvious, that public preceptors 
would be saved much useless labour and anxiety, were 
parents to take some pains in the previous instruction 
of their children ; and more especially, if they were to 
prevent them from learning a taste for total idleness, 
or habits of obstinacy and of falsehood, which can 
scarcely be conquered by the utmost care and vigilance. 
We can assure parents, from experience, that if they 
pursue steadily a proper plan with regard to the under- 
standing and the moral habits, they will not have much 
trouble with the education of their children after the 
age we have mentioned, as long as they continue to in- 
struct them at home ; and if they send them to public 
schools, their superiority in intellect and in conduct will 
quickly appear. Though we have been principally 
attentive to all the circumstances which can bo essen- 
tial to the management of young people during the first 
nine or ten years of their lives, we have by no means 
confined our observations to this period alone ; but we 
have endeavoured to lay before parents a general view 
of the human mind (as far as it relates to our subject), 
of proper methods of teaching, and o/ the objects of 
rational instruction — so that they may extend the prin- 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 363 

tiplcs which we have laid down, through all the suc- 
ceeding periods of education, and may apply them as it 
may best suit their peculiar situations or their peculiar 
wishes. We are fuU}^ conscious that we have executed 
but very imperfectly even our own design ; that experi- 
mental education is yet but in its infancy, and that bound- 
less space for improvement remains ; but we flatter 
ourselves, that attentive parents and preceptors will 
consider with candour the practical assistance which is 
offered to them, especially as we have endeavoured to 
express our opinions without dogmatical presumption, 
and without the illiberal exclusion of any existing insti- 
tutions or prevailing systems. People who, even with 
the best intentions, attack with violence any of these, 
and who do not consider what is practicable, as well as 
what ought to be done, are not likely to persuade or to 
convince mankind ; to increase the general sum of hap- 
piness, or their own portion of felicity. Those who 
really desire to be of service to societ)^ should point 
out decidedly, but with temperate indulgence for the 
feelings and opinions of others, whatever appears to 
them absurd or reprehensible in any prevailing customs ; 
having done this, they will rest in the persuasion that 
what is most reasonable will ultimately prevail. 

Mankind, at least the prudent and rational part of man- 
kind, have an aversion to pull down, till they have a 
moral certainty that they can build up a better edifice 
than that which has been destroyed. •' Would you," says 
an eminent writer, " convince me that the house I live in 
is a bad one, and would you persuade me to quit it ; 
build a better in my neighbourhood ; I shall be very 
ready to go into it, and shall return you my very sincere 
thanks." Till another house be ready, a wise man will 
stay in his old one, however inconvenient its arrange- 
ment, however seducing the plans of the enthusiastic 
projector. We do not set up for projectors or reform- 
ers ; we wish to keep steadily in view the actual state 
of things, as well as our own hopes of progressive im- 
provement ; and to seize and combine all that can be 
immediately serviceable ; all that can assist, without 
precipitating improvements. Every well-informed pa- 
rent, and every liberal schoolmaster, must be sensible 
that there are many circumstances in the management 
of public education which might be condemned with 
reason; that too much time is sacrificed to the studv of 
Q2 



364 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

the learned languages ; that too little attention is paid 
to the general improvement of the understanding and 
formation of the moral character ; that a sclioohDaster 
cannot pay attention to the temper or habits of each of 
his numerous scholars; and that parents, during that 
portion of the year which their children spend with 
them, are not sufficiently solicitous to co-operate with 
the views of the schoolmaster; so that the public is 
counteracted by the private education. These, and 
many other things, we have heard objected to schools ; 
but what are we to put in the place of schools ? How 
are vast numbers who are themselves occupied in pub- 
lic or professional pursuits, how are men in business or 
in trade, artists or manufacturers, to educate their fam- 
ilies, when they have not time to attend to them ; when 
they may not think themselves perfectly prepu.red to 
undertake the classical instruction and entire education 
of several boys ; and when, perhaps, they may not be 
in circumstances to engage the assistance of such a pre- 
ceptor as they could approve ? It is obvious, that if in 
such situations parents were to attempt to educate their 
children at home, they would harass themselves and 
probably spoil their pupils, irrecoverably. It would, 
therefore, be in every respect impolitic and cruel to 
disgust those with public schools who have no other 
resource for the education of their families. There is 
another reason which has perhaps operated, unperceived 
upon many in the middle ranks of life, and which de- 
termines them in favour of public education. Persons 
of narrow fortune, or persons who have acquired wealth 
in business, are often desirous of breeding up their sons 
to the liberal professions : and they are conscious that 
the company, the language, and the style of life, which 
their children would be accustomed to at home, are be- 
neath what would be suited to their future professions. 
Public schools efface this rusticity, and correct the faults 
of provincial dialect : in this point of view they are 
highly advantageous. We strongly recommend it to 
such parents to send their children to large public schools, 
to Rugby, Eton, or Westminster ; not to any small 
school ; much less to one in their own neighbourhood. 
Small schools are apt to be filled with persons of nearly 
the same stations and out of the same neighbourhood : 
from this circumstance, they contribute to perpetuate 
uncouth, antiquated idioms, and many of those obscure 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 365 

prejudices which cloud the intellect in the future business 
of life. 

While we admit the necessity which compels the 
largest portion of society to prefer public seminaries 
of education, it is incumbent upon us to caution parents 
against expecting that the moral character, the under- 
standings, or the tempers of their children, should be 
improved at large schools ; there the learned languages, 
we acknowledge, are successfully taught. Many satisfy 
themselves with the assertion, that public education is 
the least troublesome ; that a boy once sent to school is 
settled for several years of life, and will require only 
short returns of parental care twice a year, at the holy- 
days. It is hardly to be supposed that those who think 
in this manner should have paid any anxious, or at least 
any judicious attention, to the education of their chil- 
dren, previous to sending them to school. It is not 
likely that they should be very solicitous about the 
commencement of an education which they never 
meant to finish : they would think that what could be 
done during the first few years of life, is of little conse- 
quence ; that children from four to seven years old are 
too young to be taught; and that a school would 
speedily supply all deficiencies, and correct all those 
faults which begin at that age to be troublesome at 
home. Thus to a public school, as to a general in- 
firmary for mental disease, all desperate subjects are 
sent, as the last resource. They take with them the 
contagion of their vices, which quickly runs through 
the whole tribe of their companions, especially among 
those who happen to be nearly of their own age, whose 
sympathy peculiarly exposes them to the danger of in- 
fection. We are often told, that as young people have 
the strongest sympathy w^ith each other, they will learn 
most effectually from each other's example. They do 
learn quickly from example, and this is one of the dan- 
gers of a public school : a danger which is not neces- 
sary, but incidental ; a danger against which no school- 
master can possibly guard, but which parents can, by 
the previous education of the pupils, prevent. Boys 
are led, driven, or carried to school ; and in a school- 
room they first meet with those who are to be their 
fellow- prisoners. They do not come with fresh, un- 
prejudiced minds, to commence their course of social 
education ; they bring with them all the ideas and habits 



366 PRACTICAL EDUCATIOX. 

which they have already learned at their respective 
homes. It is highly unreasoiial.le to expect, that all 
these habits should be reformed by a public preceptor. 
If he had patience, how could he have time for such an 
undertaking ? Those wlio have never attempted to 
break a pupil of any one bad habit, have no idea of the 
degree of patience requisite to success. We once 
heard an officer of dragoons assert, that he would rather 
break twenty horses of their bad habits, than one man 
of his. The proportionate difficulty of teaching boys 
may be easily calculated. 

It is sometimes asserted, that the novelty of a school 
life and the change of situation alter the habits, and form 
in boys a new character. Habits of eight or nine years 
standing cannot be instantaneously, perhaps can never 
be, radically destroyed : they will mix themselves im- 
perceptibly with the new ideas which are planted in 
their minds ; and though these may strike the eye by 
the rapidity of their growth, the others, which have 
taken a strong root, will not easily be dispossessed of 
the soil. In this new character, as it is called, there will, 
to a discerning eye, appear a strong mixture of the old 
disposition. The boy who at home lived with his father's 
servants, and was never taught to love any species of 
literature, will not acquire a taste for it at school, 
merely by being compelled to learn his lessons ; the 
boy who at home was suffered to be the little tyrant of 
a family, will, it is true, be forced to submit to superior 
strength or superior numbers at school;* but does it 
improve the temper to practise alternately the habits of 
a tyrant and a slave 1 The lesson which experience 
usually teaches to the temper of a schoolboy, is, that 
strength, and power, and cunning, will inevitably govern 
in society: as to reason, it is out of the question; it 
would be hissed or laughed out of the company. With 
respect to social virtues, they are commonly among 
schoolboys so much mixed with party spirit, that they 
mislead even the best dispositions. A boy at home, 
whose pleasures are all immediately connected with 
the idea of self, will not feel a sudden enlargement of 
mind from entering a public school. He will, probably, 
preserve his selfish character in his new society ; or, 

♦ See Bame's Essay on Public and Private Education. Man- 
chester Society. 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 367 

even suppose he catches that of his companions, the 
progress is not great, in moral education, from selfish- 
ness to spirit of party : the one is a despicable, the 
other a dangerous, principle of action. It has been ob- 
served, that what we are when we are twenty, depends 
on what we were when we were ten years old. What 
a young man is at college, depends upon what he was at 
school ; and what he is at school, depends upon what he 
was before he went to school. In his father's house, 
the first important lessons, those which decide his future 
abilities and character, must be learned. We have re- 
peated this idea, and placed it in different points of view, 
in hopes that it will catch and fix the attention. Suppose 
that parents educated their children well for the first eight 
or nine years of their lives, and then sent them all to 
public seminaries ; what a difference this must imme- 
diately make in public education: the boys would be 
disposed to improve themselves with all the ardour 
which the most sanguine preceptor would desire ; their 
tutors would find that there was nothing to be unlearned ; 
no habits of idleness to conquer ; no perverse stupidity 
would provoke them ; no capricious contempt of applica- 
tion would appear in pupils of the quickest abilities. 
The moral education could then be made a part of the 
preceptor's care, with some hopes of success ; the pupils 
would all have learned the first necessary moral princi- 
ples and habits ; they would, consequently, be all fit 
companions for each other ; in each other's society 
they would continue to be governed by the same ideas 
of right and wrong by which they had been governed 
all their lives ; they would not have any new character 
to learn ; they would improve, by mixing with numbers, 
the social virtues, without learning party spirit ; and 
though they would love their companions, they would 
not, therefore, combine together to treat their instructers 
as pedagogues and tyrants. This may be thought an 
Utopian idea of a school ; indeed it is very improbable, 
that out of the numbers of parents who send their chil- 
dren to large schools, many should suddenly be much 
moved by any thing that we can say, to persuade them 
to take serious trouble in their previous instruction. 
But much may be effected by gradual attempts. Ten 
well-educated boys, sent to a public seminary at nine or 
ten years old, would, probably, far surpass their com- 
petitors in every respect ; they would inspire others 



369 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

with so much emulation, would do their parents and 
preceptors so much credit, that numbers would eagerly 
inquire into the causes of their superiority ; and these 
boys would, perhaps, do more good by their example, 
than by their actual acquirements. We do not mean 
to promise, that a boy judiciously educated shall appear 
at ten years old a prodigy of learning; far from it : we 
should not even estimate his capacity, or the chain of 
his future progress, by the quantity of knowledge stored 
in his memory, by the number of Latin hnes he has got 
by rote, by his expertness in repeating the rules of his 
grammar, by his pointing out a number of places readily 
in a map, or even by his knowing the latitude and longi- 
tude of all the capital cities in Europe ; these are all 
useful articles of knowledge ; but they are not the test 
of a good education. We sliould rather, if we were to 
examine a boy of ten years okl, for the credit of his 
parents, produce proofs of his being able to reason accu- 
rately, of his quickness in invention, of his habits of in- 
dustry and application, of his having learned to general- 
ize his ideas, and to apply his observations and his prin- 
ciples : if we found that he had learned all or any of 
these things, we should be in little pain about grammar, 
or geography, or even Latin ; we should be tolerably 
certain that he would not long remain deficient in any 
of these; we should know that he would overtake and 
surpass a competitor who had only been technically 
taught, as certainly as the giant would overtake the 
panting dwarf, who might have many miles the start of 
him in the race. We do not mean to say that a boy 
should not be taught the principles of grammar, and 
some knowledge of geography, at the same time that 
his understanding is cultivated in the most enlarged 
manner: these objects are not incompatible; and we 
particularly recommend it to parents ivho intend to send 
their children to school, early to give them confidence in 
themselves, by securing the rudiments of literary educa- 
tion ; otherwise their pupils, with a real superiority of 
understanding, may feel depressed, and may, perhaps, 
be despised, when they mix at a public school with 
numbers who will estimate their abilities merely by 
their proficiency in particular studies. 
Mr. Frend,* in recommending the study of arithmetic 

* See Mr. Frcnd's Principles of Algebra- 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 369 

for young people, has very sensibly remarked, that boys 
bred up in public schools are apt to compare themselves 
with each other merely as classical scholars ; and, when 
they afterward go into the world excellent Greek and 
Latin scholars, are much astonished to perceive, that 
many of the companions whom they had undervalued 
at school, get before them when they come to actual 
business and to actual life. Many, in the pursuit of 
their classical studies, have neglected all other knowl- 
edge, especially that of arithmetic, that useful, essential 
branch of knowledge, without which neither the abstract 
sciences nor practical arts can be taught. The pre- 
cision which the habit of applying the common rules of 
arithmetic gives to the understanding, is highly advan- 
tageous, particularly to young people of vivacity, or, as 
others would say, of genius. The influence which the 
habit of estimating has upon that part of the moral char- 
acter called prudence, is of material consequence. We 
shall farther explain upon this subject, when we speak 
of the means of teaching arithmetic and reasoning to 
children ; we only mention the general ideas here, to 
induce intelligent parents to attend early to these par- 
ticulars. If they mean to send their children to public 
classical schools, it must be peculiarly advantageous to 
teach them early the rudiments of arithmetic, and to give 
them the habit of applying their knowledge in the com- 
mon business of life. We forbear to enumerate other 
useful things, which might easily be taught to young 
people before they leave home, because we do not wish 
to terrify with the apprehension, that a perplexing 
variety of things are to be taught. One thing well 
taught, is better than a hundred taught imperfectly. 

The effect of the pains which are taken in the first 
nine or ten years of a child's life, may not be apparent 
immediately to the view, but it will gradually become 
visible. To careless observers, two boys of nine years 
old, who have been very differently educated, may ap- 
pear nearly alike in abilities, in temper, and in the prom- 
ise of future character. Send them both to a large pub- 
lic school, let them be placed in the same new situation, 
and exposed to the same trials, the difference will then 
appear : the difference in a few years will be such as to 
strike every eye, and people will wonder what can have 
produced, in so short a time, such an amazing change. 
la the Hindoo art of dying, the same liquors communi- 
Q3 



370 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Gate different colours to particular spots, according to 
the several bases previously applied : to the ignorant 
eye, no difference is discernible in the ground, nor can 
the design be distinctly traced till the air, and light, and 
open exposure, bring out the bright and permanent col- 
ours to the wondering eye of the spectator. 

Besides bestowing some attention upon early educa- 
tion, parents who send their children to school may 
much assist the public preceptor, by judicious conduct 
towards children during the portion of the year which is 
usually spent at home.* Mistaken parental fondness 
delights to make the period of time which children 
spend at home, as striking a contrast as possible with 
that which they pass at school. The holydays are made 
a jubilee, or, rather, resemble the Saturnalia. Even if pa- 
rents do not wish to represent a schoolmaster as a tyrant, 
they are by no means displeased to observe that he is 
not the friend or favourite of their children. They put 
themselves in mean competition with him for their affec- 
tion, instead of co-operating with him in all his views 
for their advantage. How is it possible that any master 
can long retain the wish or the hope of succeeding in 
any plan of education, if he perceives that his pupils are 
but partially under his government ; if his influence over 
their minds be counteracted from time to time by the 
superior influence of their parents 1 — an influence which 
he must not wish to destroy. To him is left the power 
to punish, it is true ; but parents reserve to themselves 
the privilege to reward. The ancients did not suppose 
that even Jupiter could govern the world without the 
command of pain and pleasure. Upon the vases near 
his throne, depended his influence over mankind. 

And what are these holyday delights 1 — and in what 
consist paternal rewards 1 In dissipation and idleness. 
With these are consequently associated the idea of hap- 
piness and the name of pleasure ; the name is often 
sufficient, without the reality. During the vacation, 
children have a glimpse of what is called the ivorld; and 
then are sent back to their prison with heads full of vis- 
ions of libert)', and with a second-sight of the blessed 
lives which they are to lead when they have left school 
for ever. What man of sense who has studied the hu- 
man mind, who knows that the success of any plan of 

* See Williams's Lectures on E<lucation. 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 371 

education must depend upon the concurrence of every 
person and every circumstance, for years together, to 
the same point, would undertake any thing more than 
the partial instruction of pupils, whose leading associa- 
tions and habits must be perpetually broken ] When the 
work of school is undone during the holydays, what hand 
could have the patience perpetually to repair the web 1 

During the vacations spent at home, children may be 
made extremely happy in the society and in the affec- 
tions of their friends, — but they need not be taught that 
idleness is pleasure : on the contrary, occupation should, 
by all possible methods, be rendered agreeable to them ; 
their school acquisitions, their knowledge and taste, 
should be drawn out in conversation, and they should 
be made to feel the value of what they have been taught ; 
by these means there would be some connexion, some 
unity of design, preserved in their education. Their 
schoolmasters and tutors should never become the 
theme of insipid ridicule ; nor should parents ever put 
their influence in competition with that of a preceptor : 
on the contrary, his pupils should uniformly perceive, 
that from his authority there is no appeal, except to the 
superior power of reason, which should be the avowed 
arbiter to which all should be submitted. 

Some of the dangerous effects of that mixed society 
at schools of which we have complained, may be coun- 
teracted by the judicious conduct of parents during the 
time which children spend at home. A better view of 
society, more enlarged ideas of friendship and of justice, 
may be given to young people, and the vile principle 
of party spirit maybe treated with just contempt and 
ridicule. Some standard, some rules may be taught to 
them, by which they may judge of character independ- 
ently of prejudice or childish prepossession. 

" I do not like you, Doctor Fell ; 
The reason why, I cannot tell 
But this I know full well, 
T do not like you, Doctor Fell" — 

is an exact specimen of the usual mode of reasoning, 
of the usual method in which an ill-educated schoolboy 
expresses his opinion and feelings about all persons and 
all things. " The reason why" should always be in- 
quired whenever children express preference or aversion. 
To connect the idea of childhood with that of inferi- 



372 PRACTICAL EDUCATIOIf. 

ty and contempt, is unjust and impolitic ; it should 
i. >l be made a reproach to young people to be young, 
nor should it be pointed out to them, that when they are 
some years older they will be more respected ; the de- 
gree of respect which they really command, whether in 
youth or age, will depend upon their own conduct, their 
knowledge, and their powers of being useful and agree- 
able to others. If they are convinced of this, children 
will not at eight years old long to be fifteen, or at fifteen 
to be one-and-twenty ; proper subordination would be 
preserved, and the scale of happiness would not have a 
forced and false connexion with that of age. If parents 
did not at first excite foolish wishes in the minds of their 
children, and then imprudently promise that these wishes 
shall be gratified at certain periods of their existence, 
children would not be impatient to pass over the years 
of childhood ; those years which idle boys wish to pass 
over as quickly as possible, men without occupation re- 
gret as the happiest of their existence. To a child who 
has been promised that he shall put on manly apparel 
on his next birthday, the pace of time is slow and 
heavy until that happy era arrive. Fix the day when a 
boy shall leave school, and he wishes instantly to mount 
the chariot, and lash the horses of the sun. Nor when 
he enters the world, will his restless spirit be satisfied ; 
the first step gained, he looks anxiously forward to the 
height of manly elevation, 

*' And the brisk minor pants for twenty-one." 

These juvenile anticipations diminish the real happi- 
ness of life ; those who are in continual expectation, 
never enjoy the present ; the habit of expectation is 
dangerous to the mind — it suspends all industry, all vol- 
untary exertion. Young men who early acquire this 
habit, find existence insipid to them without the imme- 
diate stimuli of hope and fear : no matter what the object 
is, they must have something to sigh for ; a curricle, a 
cockade, or an opera-dancer. 

Much may be done by education to prevent this boy- 
ish restlessness. Parents should refrain from those im- 
prudent promises and slight innuendoes which the youth- 
ful imagination always misunderstands and exaggerates. 
Never let the moment in which a young man quits a 
seminary of education, be represented as a moment in 
which ail instruction, labour, and restraints cease. The 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 373 

idea that he must restrain and instruct himself, that he 
must complete his own education, should be excited in 
a young man's mind ; nor should he be suffered to ima- 
gine that his education is finished, because he has at- 
tained to some given age. 

When a common schoolboy bids adieu to that school 
which he has been taught to consider as a prison, he ex- 
ults in his escape from books and masters, and from all 
the moral and intellectual discipline to which he ima- 
gines that it is the peculiar disgrace and misery of child- 
hood to be condemned. He is impatient to be thought 
a man, but his ideas of the manly character are errone- 
ous — consequently his ambition will only mislead him, 
PVom his companions while at school, from his father's 
acquaintance and his father's servants, with whom he 
has been suffered to consort during the vacations, he 
has collected imperfect notions of life, fashion, and so- 
ciety. These do not mix well in his mind with the ex- 
amples and precepts of Greek and Roman virtue ; a 
temporary enthusiasm may have been kindled in his 
soul by the eloquence of antiquity; but, for want of 
sympathy, this enthusiasm neces.sarily dies away. His 
heroes are not the heroes of the present times ; the 
maxims of his sages are not easily introduced into the 
conversation of the day. At the tea-table he now sel- 
dom hears even the name of Plato ; and he often blushes 
for not knowing a line from a popular English poet, while 
he could repeat a cento from Horace, Virgil, and Homer ; 
or an antistrophe from iEschylus or Euripides. He 
feels ashamed to produce the knowledge he has acquired, 
because he has not learned sufficient address to produce 
it without pedantry. On his entrance into the world, 
there remains in his mind no grateful, no affectionate, 
no respectful remembrance of those under whose care 
he has passed so many years of his life. He has es- 
caped from the restraints imposed by his schoolmaster, 
and the connexion is dissolved for ever. 

But when a son separates from his father, if he has 
been well educated, he wishes to continue his own edu- 
cation : the course of his ideas is not suddenly broken ; 
what he has been, joins immediately with what he is to 
be ; his knowledge applies to real life — it is such as he 
can use in all companies ; there is no sudden metamor- 
phosis in any of the objects of his ambition ; the boy and 
man are the same individual. Pleasure will not influ- 



^1^* 



374 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ence him merely by her name, or by the contrast of her 
appearance with the rigid disciphne of scholastic learn- 
ing ; he will feel the difference between pleasure and 
happiness, and his early taste for domestic life will re- 
main or return upon his mind. His old precepts and 
new motives are not at war with each other ; his expe- 
rience will confirm his education, and external circum- 
stances will call forth his latent virtues. When he looks 
back, he can trace the gradual growth of his knowledge ; 
when he looks forward, it is with the delightful hope of 
progressive improvement. A desire in some degree to 
repay the care, to deserve the esteem, to fulfil the ani- 
mating prophecies, or to justify the fond hopes of the 
parent who has watched over his education, is one of 
the strongest motives to an ingenuous young man ; it is 
an incentive to exertion in every honourable pursuit. A 
son who has been judiciously and kindly educated, will 
feel the value of his father's friendship. The percep- 
tion that no man can be more entirely interested in 
every thing that concerns him, the idea that no one more 
than his father can share in his glory or in his disgrace, 
will press upon his heart, will rest upon his understand- 
ing. Upon these ideas, upon this common family inter- 
est, the real strength of the connexion between a father 
and his son depends. No pubhc preceptor can have the 
same advantages; his connexion with his pupil is not 
necessarily formed to last. 

After having spoken with freedom, but we hope with 
moderation, of public schools, we may, perhaps, be asked 
our opinion of universities. Are universities the most 
splendid repositories of learning 1 We are not afraid to 
declare an opinion in the negative. Smith, in his Wealth 
of Nations, has stated some objections to them, we 
think, with unanswerable force of reasoning. We do 
not, however, wish to destroy what v/e do not entirely 
approve. Far be that insanity from our minds which 
would, like Orlando, tear up the academic groves ; the 
madness of innovation is as destructive as the bigotry 
of ancient establishments. The learning and the views 
of the rising century must have diflferent objects from 
those of the wisdom and benevolence of Alfred, Bal- 
sham, or Wolsey ; and, without depreciating or de- 
stroying the magnificence or establishments of univer- 
sities, may not their institutions be improved ? May 
not their splendid halls echo with other sounds than tlie 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION. 375 

exploded metaphysics of the schools'? And may not 
other learning be as much rewarded and esteemed as 
pure latinity ? 

We must here distinctly point out, that young men 
designed for the army or the navy, should not be edu- 
cated in private families. The domestic habits, the 
learned leisure of private education, are unsuited to 
them ; it would be absurd to waste many years in teach- 
ing them the elegances of classic literature, which can 
probably be of no essential use to them ; it would be 
cruel to give them a nice and refined choice of right and 
wrong, when it will be their professional duty to act 
under the command of others; when implicit, prompt, 
unquestioning obedience, must be their first military vir- 
tue. Military academies, where the sciences practically 
essential to the professions are taught, must be the best 
situations for all young sailors and soldiers ; strict in- 
stitution is the best education for them. We do not 
here inquire how far these professions are necessary in 
society ;^it is obvious, that in the present state of Eu- 
ropean cultivation, soldiers and sailors are indispensa- 
ble to every nation. We hope, however, that a taste 
for peace may, at some future period in the history of 
the world, succeed to the passion for military glory ; 
and in the meantime we may safely recommend it to 
parents, never to trust a young man designed for a sol- 
dier to the care of a philosopher, even if it were possi- 
ble to find one who would undertake the charge. 

W^e hope that we have shown ourseJves the friends 
of the pubUc preceptor, that we have pointed out the 
practicable means of improving public institutions, by 
parental care and parental co-operation. But, until such 
a meliorating plan shall actually have been carried into 
effect, we cannot hesitate to assert, that even when the 
abilities of the parent are inferior to those of the public 
preceptor, the means of ensuring success preponderate 
in favour of private education. A father who has time, 
talents, and temper, to educate his family, is certainly 
the best possible preceptor ; and his reward will be the 
highest degree of domestic felicity. If, from his situa- 
tion, he is obliged to forego this reward, he may select 
some man of literature, sense, and integrity, to whom 
he can confide his children. Opulent families should 
not think any reward too munificent for such a private 
preceptor. Even in an economic point oi^ view, it is 



376 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

prudent to calculate how many thousands lavished on 
the turf, or lost at the gaming-table, might have been 
saved to the heirs of noble and wealthy families by a 
judicious education. 



CHAPTER XX. 

ON FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, MASTERS, AND GOVERNESSES. 

Some years ago, an opera-dancer at Lyons, whose 
charms were upon the wane, applied to an English gen- 
tleman for a recommendation to some of his friends in 
England, as a governess for young ladies. " Do you 
doubt," said the lady (observing that the gentleman was 
somewhat confounded by the easy assurance of her re- 
quest), " do you doubt my capability "? Do I not speak 
good Parisian French 1 Have I any provincial accent 1 
1 will undertake to teach the language grammatically. 
And for music and dancing, without vanity, may I not 
pretend to teach them to any young person V The 
lady's excellence in all these particulars was unques- 
tionable. She was beyond dispute a highly accom- 
plished woman. Pressed by her forcible interrogato- 
ries, the gentleman was compelled to hint, that an Eng- 
lish mother of a family might be inconveniently inquisi- 
tive about the private history of a person who was to 
educate her daughters. " Oh," said the lady, " I can 
change my name, and, at my age, nobody will make 
farther inquiries." 

Before we can determine how far this lady's preten- 
sions were ill-founded, and before we can exactly de- 
cide what qualifications are most desirable in a govern- 
ess, we must form some estimate of the positive and 
relative value of what are called accomplishments. 

We are not going to attack any of them with cynical 
asperity, or wiUi the ambition to establish any new dog- 
matical tenets in the place of old received opinions. It 
can, however, do no harm to discuss this important sub- 
ject with proper reverence and humility. Without 
alarming those mothers who declare themselves above 
all things anxious for the rapid progress of their daugh- 
ters in every fashionable accomplishment, it may be 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 377 

innocently asked, what price such mothers are willing 
to pay for these advantages. Any price within the limits 
of our fortune ! they will probably exclaim. 

There are other standards by which we can measure 
the value of objects, as well as by money. " Fond 
mother, would you, if it were in your power, accept of 
an opera-dancer for your daughter's governess, upon 
condition that you should live to see that daughter 
dance the best minuet at a birthnight ball V 

" Not for the world," replies the mother. " Do you 
think I would hazard my daughter's innocence and repu- 
tation, for the sake of seeing her dance a good minuet ? 
Shocking ! Absurd ! What can you mean by such an 
outrageous question ?" 

" To fix your attention. Where the mind has not pre- 
cisely ascertained its wishes, it is sometimes useful to 
consider extremes ; by determining what price you will 
not pay, we shall at length ascertain the value which 
you set upon the object. Reputation and innocence, 
you say, you will not, upon any account, hazard. But 
would you consent that your daughter should, by uni- 
versal acclamation, be proclaimed the most accom- 
plished woman in Europe, upon the simple condition 
that she should pass her days in a nunnery ]" 

"I should have no right to make such a condition; 
domestic happiness I ought certainly to prefer to public 
admiration for my daughter. Her accomplishments 
would be of little use to her, if she were to be shut up 
from the world : who is to be the judge of them in a 
nunnery V 

" I will say no more about the nunnery. But would 
not you, as a good mother, consent to have your daugh- 
ter turned into an automaton for eight hours in every 
day for fifteen years, for the promise of hearing her, at 
the end of that time, pronounced the first private per- 
former at the most fashionable and most crowded con- 
cert in London V 

" Eight hours a day for fifteen years are too much. 
No one need practise so much to become the first per- 
former in England." 

" That is another question. You have not told me 
whether you would sacrifice so much of your daughter's 
existence for such an object, supposing that you could 
obtain it at no other price." 

" For one concert V says the hesitating mother ; " I 



378 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

think it would be too high a price. Yet I would give 
any thing to have my daughter play better than any one 
in England. What a distinction ! She would be imme- 
diately taken notice of in all companies ! She might 
get into the first circles in London ! She would want 
neither beauty nor fortune to recommend her! She 
would be a match for any man who has any taste for 
music ! And music is universally admired, even by 
those who have the misfortune to have no taste for it. 
Besides, it is such an elegant accomplishment in itself! 
Such a constant source of innocent amusement ! Put- 
ting every thing else out of the question, I should wish 
my daughter to have every possible accomplishment, 
because accomplishments are such charming resources 
for young women ; they keep them out of harm's way ; 
they make a vast deal of their idle time pass so pleas- 
antly to themselves and others; this is my cAie/ reason 
for liking them." 

Here are so many reasons brought together at once, 
along with the chief reason, that they are altogether 
unanswerable : we must separate, class, and consider 
them one at a time. Accomplishments, it seems, are 
valuable, as being the objects of universal admiration. 
Some accomplishments have another species of value, 
as they are tickets of admission to fashionable com- 
pany. Accomplishments have another, and a higher 
species of value, as they are supposed to increase a 
young lady's chance of a prize in the matrimonial lot- 
tery. Accomplishments have also a value as resources 
against ennui, as they afford continual amusement and 
innocent occupation. This is ostensibly their chief 
praise ; it deserves to be considered with respect. 
False and odious must be that philosophy which would 
destroy any one of the innocent pleasures of our exist- 
ence. No reward was thought too high for the inven- 
tion of a new pleasure ; no punishment would be thought 
too severe for those who would destroy an old one. 
Women are peculiarly restrained in their situation and 
in their employments, by the customs of society: to 
diminish the number of these employments, therefore, 
would be cruel ; they should rather be encouraged, by 
all means, to cultivate those tastes which can attach 
them to their home, and which can preserve them from 
the miseries of dissipation. Every sedentary occupa- 
tion must be valuable to those who are to lead sedentary 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 379 

lives ; and every art, however trifling in itself, which 
tends to enh'ven and embelUsh domestic life, must be 
advantageous, not only to the female sex, but to society 
in general. As far as accomplishments can contribute 
to all or any of these excellent purposes, they must be 
just objects of attention in early education. 

A number of experiments have already been tried ; 
let us examine the result. Out of the prodigious num- 
ber of young women who learn music and drawing, for 
instance, how many are there, who, after they become 
mistresses of their own time, and after they have the 
choice of their own amusements, continue to practise 
these accomphshments for the pure pleasure of occupa- 
tion 1 As soon as a young lady is married, does she 
not frequently discover that " she really has not leisure 
to cultivate talents which take up so much time V Does 
she not complain of the labour of practising four or five 
hours a day to keep up her musical character T What 
motive has she for perseverance ? She is, perhaps, al- 
ready tired of playing to all her acquaintance. She 
may really take pleasure in hearing good music ; but 
her own performance will not then please her ear so 
much as that of many others. She will prefer the more 
indolent pleasure of hearing the best music that can be 
heard for money at public concerts. She will then of 
course leave off playing, but continue very fond of music. 
How often is the labour of years thus lost for ever ! 

Those who have excelled in drawing do not appear 
to abandon the occupation so suddenly ; it does not de- 
mand such an inordinate quantity of time to keep up 
the talent ; the exertion of the imitative powers with 
apparent success, is agreeable ; the employment is pro- 
gressive, and therefore the mind is carried on to com- 
plete what has been begun. Independently of all ap- 
plause which may be expected for the performance, 
there is a pleasure in going on with the work. But 
setting aside enthusiasm and habit, the probability that 
any sensible persons will continue to pursue a given 
employment, must depend, in a great measure, upon 
their own conviction of its utility, or of its being agree- 
able to those whom they wish to please. The pleasure 
which a lady's friends receive from her drawings, arises 
chiefly from the perception of their comparative excel- 
lence. Comparative excellence is all to which gentle- 
women artists usually pretend all to which they expect 



380 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

to attain ; positive excellence is scarcely attained by 
one in a hundred. Compared with the performances 
of other young ladies of their acquaintance, the draw- 
ings of Miss X or Y may be justly considered as charm- 
ing! admirable! and astonishing! But there are few 
drawings by young ladies which can be compared with 
those of a professed artist. The wishes of obliging 
friends are satisfied with a few drawings in handsome 
frames, to be bung up for the young lady's credit ; and 
when it is allowed among their acquaintance that she 
draws in a superior style, the purpose of this part of her 
education is satisfactorily answered. We do not here 
speak of those iew individuals who really excel in draw, 
ing, who have learned something more than the com- 
mon routine which is usually learned from a drawing- 
master, who have acquired an agreeable talent, not for 
the mere purpose of exhibiting themselves, but for the 
sake of the occupation it affords, and the pleasure it 
may give to their friends. We have the pleasure of 
knowing some who exactly answer to this description, 
and who must feel themselves distinct and honourable 
exceptions to these general observations. 

From whatever cause it arises, we may observe, that 
after young women are settled in life, their taste for 
drawing and music gradually declines. For this fact, 
we can appeal only to the recollection of individuals. 
We may hence form some estimate of the real value 
which ought to be put upon what are called accomplish- 
ments, considered as occupations. Hence we may also 
conclude, that parents do not form their judgments 
from the facts which they see every day in real life ; 
or else may we not infer, that they deceive themselves 
as to their own motives ; and that, among the reasons 
which make them so anxious about the accomplish- 
ments of their daughters, there are some secret motives 
more powerful than those which are usually openly 
acknowledged ] 

It is admitted in the cabinet council of mothers, that 
some share of the value of accomplishments depends 
upon the demand for them in the fashionable world. 
" A young lady," they say, " is nobody, and nothing, 
without accomplishments; they are as necessary to her 
as a fortune : they are indeed considered as part of her 
fortune, and sometimes are even found to supply the 
place of it. Next to beauty, they are the best tickets 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 381 

of admission into society which she can produce ; and 
everybody knows, that on the company she keeps de- 
pends the chance of a young woman's setlhng advan- 
tageously in the world." 

To judge of what will please and attach men of 
superior sense and characters — we are not quite cer- 
tain that these are the men who are to be considered 
first, when we speak of a young lady's settling advan- 
tageously in the world ; but we will take this for granted 
— to judge of what will please and attach men of supe- 
rior sense and characters, we must observe their actual 
conduct in life, and listen to their speculative opinions. 
Superficial accomplishments do not appear to be the 
objects of their preference. In enumerating the per- 
fections of his wife, or in retracing the progress of his 
love, does a man of sense dwell upon his mistress's 
skill in drawing, or dancing, or music ? No. These, 
he tells you, are extremely agreeable talents, but ihey 
could never have attached him ; they are subordinate 
parts in her character ; he is angry that you can rank 
them among her perfections ; he knows that a thousand 
Avomen possess these accomplishments, who have never 
touched his heart. He does not, perhaps, deny, that in 
Chloe, altogether, they have power to please, but he 
does not think them essential to her power. 

The opinion of women who have seen a good deal 
of the world, is worth attending to upon this subject ; 
especially if we can obtain it when their passions are 
wholly uninterested in their decision. Whatever may 
be the judgment of individuals concerning the character 
and politics of the celebrated Madame Roland, her opin- 
ion as a woman of abilities, and a woman who had seen 
a variety of life, will be thought deserving of attention. 
Her book was written at a time when she was in daily 
expectation of death, when she could have no motive 
to conceal her real sentiments upon any subject. She 
gives an account of her employments in prison, and, 
among others, mentions music and drawing. 

" I then employed myself in drawing till dinner time. 
I had so long been out of the habit of using a pencil, 
that I could not expect to be very dexterous ; but we 
commonly retain the power of repeating with pleasure, 
or at least of attempting with ease, whatever we have 
successfully practised in our youth. Therefore the 
study of the fine arts, considered as a part of female 



382 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

education, sliould be attended to, much less witli a view 
to the acquisition of superior talents, than with a desire 
to give women a taste for industry, the habit of appKca- 
tion, and a greater variety of employments ; for these 
assist us to escape from ennui, the most cruel disease 
of civilized society ; by these we are preserved from 
the dangers of vice, and even from those seductions 
which are far more likely to lead us astray. 

" I would not make my daughter a •performer.* I re- 
member that my mother was afraid that I should be- 
come a great musician, or that I should devote myself 
entirely to painting : she wished that I should, above 
all other tilings, love the duties of my sex : that I should 
be a good economist, a good mistress, as well as a good 
mother of a family. 1 wish my Eudora to be able to 
accompany her voice agreeably on the harp. I wish 
that she may play agreeably on the piano-forte ; that 
she may know enough of drawing, to feel pleasure from 
the sight and from the examination of the finest pictures 
of the great painters ; that she may be able to draw a 
flower that happens to please her ; and that she may 
unite in her dress elegance and simplicity. I should 
wish that her talents might be such that they should 
neither excite the admiration of others, nor inspire her 
with vanity ; I should wish that she should please by 
the general effect of her whole character, without ever 
striking anybody with astonishment at first sight ; and 
that she should attach by her good qualities, rather than 
shine by her accomplishments." 

Women cannot foresee what may be the tastes of 
the individuals with whom they are to pass their lives. 
Their own tastes should not, therefore, be early de- 
cided ; they should, if possible, be so educated that they 
may attain any talent in perfection which they may 
desire, or which their circumstances may render ne- 
cessary. If, for instance, a woman were to marry a 
man who was fond of music, or who admired painting, 
she should be able to cultivate these talents for his 
amusement and her own. If he be a man of sense and 
feeling, he will be more pleased w^th the motive than 
with the thing that is actually done. But if it be urged 
that all women cannot expect to marry men of sense 
and feeling ; and if we are told, that nevertheless they 

* Une Virtuose. 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 383 

must look to " an advantageous establishment," vvc 
must conclude, that men of rank and fortune are meant 
by that comprehensive phrase. Another set of argu- 
ments must be used to those who speculate on their 
daughters' accomplishments in this line. They have, 
perhaps, seen some instances of what they call success ; 
they have seen some young women of their acquaint- 
ance, whose accomplishments have attracted men of 
fortune superior to tlieir own ; consequently, maternal 
tenderness is awakened, and many mothers are sanguine 
in their expectations of the efiect of their daughters' 
education. But they forget that everybody now makes 
the same reflections, that parents are, and have been 
for some years speculating in the same line ; conse- 
quently, the market is likely to be overstocked, and, of 
course, the value of the commodities must fall. Every 
young lady (and every young woman is now a young 
lady) has some pretensions to accomplishments. She 
draws a little, or she plays a little, or she speaks French 
a little. Even the blue-board boardingschools, ridiculed 
by Miss Allscript in the Heiress, profess to perfect 
jT^oung ladies in some or all of these necessary parts of 
education. Stop at any good inn on the London roads, 
and you will probably find that the landlady's daughter 
can show you some of her own framed drawings, can 
play a tune upon her spinet, or support a dialogue in 
French of a reasonable length, in the customary ques- 
tions and answers. Now it is the practice in high life 
to undervalue, and avoid as much as possible, every 
thing which descends to the inferior classes of society. 
The dress of to-day is unfashionable to-morrow, be- 
cause everybody wears it. The dress is not preferred 
because it is pretty or useful, but because it is the dis- 
tinction of wellbred people. In the same manner, ac- 
complishments have lost much of that value which they 
acquired from opinion, since they have become com- 
mon. They are now so common, that they cannot be 
considered as the distinguishing characteristics of even 
a gentlewoman's education. The higher classes in life, 
and those individuals who aim at distinction, now estab- 
lish another species of monopoly, and secure to them- 
selves a certain set of expensive masters in music, draw- 
ing, dancing, &c. ; and they endeavour to believe, and 
to make others believe, that no one can be well edu- 
cated without having served an apprenticeship of so 



384 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

many lessons under some of these privileg-ed masters. 
But it is in vain that they intrench themselves, they are 
pursued by the intrusive vulgar. In a wealthy, mer- 
cantile nation, there is nothing which can be bought for 
money, which will long continue to be an envied dis- 
tinction. The hope of attaining that degree of eminence 
in the fine arts whicli really deserves celebrity, becomes 
every day more difficult to private practitioners, be- 
cause the number of competitors daily increases ; and 
it is the interest of masters to forward their pupils by 
every possible means. Both genius and perseverance 
must now be united to obtain the prize of distinction ; 
and how seldom are they found, or kept together, in the 
common course of education ! 

Considering all these circumstances, is there not 
some reason to apprehend, that in a few years the taste 
for several fashionable appendages of female education 
may change, and that those will consequently be treated 
with neglect who have no other claim to public regard 
than their proficiency in what may, perhaps, then be 
thought vulgar or obsolete accomphshments 1 Our 
great-grandmothers distinguished themselves by truly 
substantial tent-work chairs and carpets, by needle- 
work pictures of Solomon and the queen of Sheba. 
These were admirable in their day, but their day is 
over; and these useful, ingenious, and laborious speci- 
mens of female talents, are consigned to the garret, or 
they are produced but as curiosities, to excite wonder 
at the strange patience and miserable destiny of former 
generations ; the taste for tapestry and embroidery is 
thus past ; the long labours of the loom have ceased. 
Cloth-work, crape-work, chenille-work, riband-work, 
wafer- work, with a long train of etceteras, have all passed 
away in our own memory ; yet these conferred much 
evanescent fame, and a proportional quantity of vain emu- 
lation. A taste for drawing or music cannot be classed 
with any of these trifling performances ; but there are 
many faded drawings of the present generations, which 
cannot stand in competition with the glowing and faithful 
colours of the silk and worsted of former times ; and 
many of the hours spent at a stammering harpsichord, 
might surely, with full as much domestic advantage, have 
been devoted to the embelUshment of chairs and carpets. 
We hope that no one will so perversely misunderstand 
us, as to infer from these remarks that we desire to see the 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 385 

revival of old tapestry -work ; or that we condemn the 
elegant accomplishments of music and drawing. We 
condemn only the abuse of these accomplishments ; we 
only wish that they should be considered as domestic oc- 
cupations, not as matters of competition or of exhibition, 
nor yet as the means of attracting temporary admira- 
tion. We are not afraid that any, who are really con- 
scious of having acquired accomplishments with these 
prudent and honourable views, should misapprehend 
what has been said. Mediocrity may, perhaps, attempt 
to misrepresent our remarks, and may endeavour to 
make it appear that we have attacked, and that we 
would discourage, every effort of female taste and in- 
genuity in the fine arts ; we cannot, therefore, be too 
explicit in disclaiming such illiberal views. 

We have not yet spoken of dancing, though it is one 
of the most admired of female accomplishments. This 
evidently is an amusement, not an occupation; it is an 
greeable exercise, useful to the health, and advanta- 
geous, as it confers a certain degree of habitual ease and 
grace. Mr. Locke seems to think, that it gives young 
people confidence in themselves when they come into 
company, and that it is, therefore, expedient to teach 
children early to dance : but there are so many other 
methods of inspiring young people with this confidence 
in themselves, that it appears unnecessary to lay much 
stress upon this argument. If children live in good com- 
pany, and see constantly people with agreeable manners, 
they will acquire manners which the dancing-master does 
not always teach ; and they will easily vary their forms 
of politeness with the fashion of the day. Nobody comes 
into a room regularly as the dancing-master taught him 
to make his entrance ; we should think a strict adhe- 
rence to his lessons ridiculous and awkward in well- 
bred company ; therefore much must be left to the dis- 
cretion and taste of the pupil, after the dancing-master 
has made his last bow. Ease of manners is not always 
attained by those who have been strictly disciplined by 
a Vestris, because the lessons are not always practised 
in precisely the same circumstances in which they were 
learned : this confuses and confounds the pupils, and 
they rather lose than gain confidence in themselves,' 
from perceiving that they cannot immediately apply 
what they have been taught. But we need not expati- 
ate upon this subject, because there are few parents of 
R 



386 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

good sense, in any rank of life, who will not perceive 
that their daughters' manners cannot be formed or pol- 
ished by a dancing-master. We are not to consider 
dancing in a grave and moral light ; it is an amusement 
much more agreeable to young people, and much better 
suited to them in every respect, than cards, or silent 
assemblies of formal visiters, it promotes cheerfulness, 
and prevents, in some measure, the habits of gossiping 
conversation and the love of scandal. So far we most 
willingly agree with its most vivacious advocates in its 
common eulogium. But this is not, we fear, saying 
enough. We see, or fancy that we see, the sober ma- 
tron lay down her carefully assorted cards upon the 
card-table, and with dictatorial solemnity she pronoun- 
cr s, " That dancing is something more than an amuse- 
ment ; that girls must learn to dance, because they 
must appear well in public ; because the young ladies 
who dance the best are usually most takcji notice of in 
public ; most admired by the other sex ; most likely, in 
short, not only to have their choice of the best partner 
in a ball-room, but sometimes of the best partner for 
life." 

With submission to maternal authority, these argu- 
ments do not seem to be justified of late years. Girls 
who dance remarkably well, are, it is true, admired in a 
ball-room, and followed, perhaps, by those idle, thought- 
less young men, who frequent public places merely for 
the want of something else to do. This race of beings 
are not particularly calculated to make good husbands in 
any sense of the word ; nor are they usually disposed 
to think of marriage in any other light than as the last 
desperate expedient to repair their injured fortunes. 
They set their wits against the sex in general, and con- 
sider themselves as in danger of being jockeyed into the 
matrimonial state. Some few, perhaps, who have not 
brought their imagination sufficiently under the com- 
mand of the calculating faculty, are caught by beauty 
and accomplishments, and many against the common 
rules of interest. These men are considered with pity 
or with ridicule by their companions, as dupes, who 
have suffered themselves to be taken in: others are 
warned by their fate ; and the future probability of simi- 
lar errors, of course, must be diminished. The fashion- 
able apathy, whether real or affected, with which young 
men lounge in public places, with scarcely the appear- 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 387 

ance of attention to the fair exhibiters before them, 
sufficiently marks the temper of the times ; and if the 
female sex have lost any thing of the respect and es- 
teem which ought to be paid to them in society, they 
can scarcely expect to regain their proper influence by 
concessions to the false and vitiated taste of those who 
combine to treat them with neglect bordering upon in- 
solence. If the system of female education, if the sys- 
tem of female manners, conspire to show in the fair sex 
a degrading anxiety to attract worthless admiration, 
wealthy or titled homage, is it surprising that every 
young man who has any pretensions to birth, fortune, 
or fashion, should consider himself as the arbiter of 
their fate, and the despotic judge of their merit f Wo- 
men who understand their real interests, perceive the 
causes of the contempt with which the sex is treated 
by fashionable coxcombs, and they feel some indigna- 
tion at the meanness with which this contempt, tacitly 
or openly expressed, is endured. Women who feel 
none of this indignation, and who, either from their 
education or their circumstances, are only solicitous to 
obtain present amusement, or what they think the per- 
manent advantages of a fortunate alliance, will yet find 
themselves disappointed by persisting in their thought- 
less career ; they will not gain even the objects to 
which they aspire. How many accomplished belles run 
the usual round of dissipation in all public places of 
exhibition, tire the public eye, and, after a season or 
two, fade and are forgotten ! How many accomplished 
belles are there, who, having gained the object of their 
own or of their mothers' ambition, find themselves 
doomed to misery for life ! Those unequal marriages 
which are sometimes called excellent matches, seldom 
produce much happiness. And where happiness is not, 
what is all the rest ? 

If all or any of these reflections should strike the 
heart and convince the understanding of an anxious 
but reasonable mother, she will, probably, immediately 
determine upon her own conduct in the education of her 
daughters : she will resolve to avoid the common errors 
of the frivolous or the interested ; she will not be in- 
fluenced by the importunity of every idle acquaintance, 
who may talk to her of the necessity of her daughter's 
being taken notice of in public, of the chances of an 
advantageous establishment, of the good fortune of Miss 
R2 



388 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Y , or Lady Angelina X , in meeting with a cox- 
comb or a spendthrift for a husband ; nor will she be 
moved with maternal emulation when she is farther 
told, that these young ladies owed their success entirely 
to the superiority of their accomplishments : she will 
consider, for one moment, what is meant by the word 
success ; she will, perhaps, not be of opinion that " 'tis 
best repenting in a coach and six ;" she will, perhaps, 
reflect, that even the " soft sounds" of titled grandeur 
lose their power to please, and " salute the ear" almost 
unobserved. The happiness, the permanent happiness 
of her child, will be the first, the last object of the good 
and the enlightened mother : to this all her views and 
all her efforts will tend ; and to this she will make every 
fashionable, every elegant accomplishment subservient. 
As to the means of acquiring these accomplishments, 
it would be absurd and presumptuous to present here 
any vague precepts or tedious details, upon the mode 
of learning drawing, dancing, and music. These can 
be best learned from the masters who profess to teach 
them, as far as the technical part is necessary. But 
success will not ultimately depend upon any technical 
instructions that a master can give: he may direct the 
efforts of industry so as to save much useless labour ; 
he may prevent his pupils from acquiring bad practical 
habits ; he may assist, but he cannot inspire the spirit 
of perseverance. A master who is not expected, or 
indeed allowed, to interfere in the general education of 
his pupils, can only diligently attend to them while he 
is giving his lessons ; he has not any power, except that 
pernicious motive, competition, to excite them to excel ; 
his instructions cannot be peculiarly adapted to their 
tempers or their understandings, because with these he 
is unacquainted. Now a sensible mother has it in her 
power to supply all these deficiencies ; even if she does 
not herself excel in any of the accomplishments which 
her daughters are learning, her knowledge of their 
minds, her taste, her judgment, her affection, her super- 
intending intelligence, will be of inestimable value to 
her children. If she has skill in any accomplishment, 
she will, for the first years of her daughters' lives, be 
undoubtedly the best person to instruct them. By skill, 
we do not mean superior talents, or proficiency in music 
or drawing; without these, she may be able to teach all 
that is necessary in the early part of education. One 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 389 

of the best motives which a woman can have to cultivate 
her talents after she marries, is the hope and behef that 
she may be essentially serviceable in the instruction of 
her family. And that she may be essentially service- 
able, let no false humility lead her to doubt. She need 
not be anxious for the rapid progress of her little pupils ; 
she need noi be terrified if she see their equals in age 
surpass them under what she thinks more able tuition ; 
she may securely satisfy herself, that if she but inspires 
her children with a desire to excel, with the habits of 
attention and industry, they will certainly succeed, 
sooner or later, in whatever it is desirable that they 
should learn. The exact age at which the music, 
dancing, and drawing masters should begin their in- 
structions, need not be fixed. If a mother should not be 
so situated as to be able to procure the best masters for 
her daughters while they are yet children, she need not 
be in despair; a rapid progress is made in a short time 
by well-educated young people ; those who have not 
acquired any bad habits are easily taught : it should, 
therefore, seem prudent, if the best masters cannot be 
procured at any given period of education, rather to 
wait patiently, than to hazard their first impressions, 
and the first habits which might be given by any inferior 
technical instruction. It is said that the celebrated 
musician Timotheus, whose excellence in his art Alex- 
ander the conqueror of the world was forced to acknowl- 
edge, when pupils flocked to him from all parts of the 
world, had the prudence to demand double entrance 
money from every scholar who had had any other music- 
master. 

Besides the advantage of being entirely free from 
other bad habits, children who are not taught by inferior 
masters will not contract habits of listless application. 
Under the eye of an indolent person, children seldom 
give their entire attention to what they are about. 
They become mere machines ; and without using their 
own understanding in the least, have recourse to the 
convenient master upon every occasion. The utmost 
that children in such circumstances can learn, is, all the 
technical part of the art which the master can teach. 
When the master is at last dismissed, and her education 
completed, the pupil is left both fatigued and helpless. 
"Few have been taught to any purpose, who have not 
been their own teachers," says Sir Joshua Reynolds. 



390 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

This reflection upon the art of teaching, may, perhaps, 
be too general ; but those persons who look back upon 
their education, will, in many respects, allow it to be 
just. They will perceive that they have been too much 
taught, that they have learned every thing which thej" 
know as an art, and nothing as a science. Few people 
have sufficient courage to recommence their own edu- 
cation, and for this reason few people get beyond a 
certain point of mediocrity. It is easy to them to prac- 
tise the lessons which they have learned, if they practise 
them in intellectual darkness ; but if you let in upon 
them one ray of philosophic light, you dazzle and con- 
found them, so that they cannot even perform their cus- 
tomary feats. A young man,* who had been blind from 
his birth, had learned to draw a cross, a circle, and a 
square, with great accuracy ; when he was twenty, his 
eyes were couched, and when he could see perfectly 
well, he was desired to draw his circle and square. His 
new sense of seeing, so far from assisting him in this 
operation, was extremely troublesome to him ; though 
he took more pains than usual, he performed very ill : 
confounded by the new difficulty, he concluded that sight 
was useless in all operations to be performed by the 
hand, and he thought his eyes would be of no use to him 
in future. How many people find their reason as useless 
and troublesome to them as this young man found his 
eyesight. 

While we are learning any mechanical operation, or 
while we are acquiring any technical art, the mind is 
commonly passive. In the first attempts, perhaps, we 
reason or invent ways of abridging our own labour, and 
the awkwardness of the unpractised hand is assisted by 
ingenuity and reflection ; but as we improve in manual 
dexterity, attention and ingenuity are no longer ex- 
erted ; we go on habitually without thought. — Thought 
would probably interrupt the operation, and break the 
chain of associated actions. f An artificer stops his 
hand the moment you ask him to explain what he is 
about : he can work and talk of indiff'erent objects ; but 
if he reflects upon the manner in which he performs 
certain sleight of hand parts of his business, it is ten to 



* See Storia di quattro fratelli nati ciechi e guariti coll' estrazione 
delle cateratte. — Di Francesco Buzzi. 
■*■ See Zoonomia. 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 391 

one but he cannot go on with them. A man who writes 
a free running hand, goes on without thinking of the 
manner in which he writes; fix his attention upon the 
manner in which he holds his pen, or forms his letters, 
and he probably will not write quite so fast, or so well 
as usual. When a girl first attempts to dress herself at 
a glass, the glass perplexes, instead of assisting her, be- 
cause she thinks and reasons about every motion ; but 
when by habit she has learned to move her hands in 
obedience to the flugel image,* which performs its ex- 
ercise in the mirror, no farther thought is employed. 
Make the child observe that she moves her left hand 
forward when the image in the glass moves in a con- 
trary manner, turn the child's attention to any of her 
own motions, and she will make mistakes as she did be- 
fore her habits were formed. 

Many occupations which are generally supposed to 
depend upon the understanding, and which do probably 
depend in the first instance upon the understanding, be- 
come by practice purely mechanical. This is the case 
in many of the imitative arts. A person unused to 
drawing, exerts a great deal of attention in copying any 
new object ; but custom soon supplies the place of 
thought. By custom,! as a great artist assures us, he 
will become able to draw the human figure tolerably 
correctly, with as little effort of the mind, as to trace 
with a pen the letters of the alphabet. 

We must farther observe, that the habit of pursuing 
any occupation which requires no mental exertion, in- 
duces an indolence or incapacity of intellect. Mere 
artists are commonly as stupid as mere artificers, and 
these are little more than machines. 

The length of time which is required to obtain practi- 
cal skill and dexterity in certain accomplishments, is 
one reason why there are so few people who obtain 
any thing more than mechanical excellence. They be- 
come the slaves of custom, and they become proud of 
their slavery. At first they might have considered cus- 
tom as a tyrant ; but when they have obeyed her for a 
certain time, they do her voluntary homage ever after, 
as to a sovereign by divine right. To prevent this spe- 

* This word is sometimes by mistake spelled /w^a/, ox fugle, as in 
fugle-man. 
+ Sir Joshua Reynolds. 



392 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

cies of intellectual degradation, we must in education be 
careful to rank mere mechanical talents below the ex- 
ercise of the mental powers. Thus the ambition of 
young- people will be directed to high objects, and all 
inferior qualifications may be attained without contract- 
ing the understanding. Praise children for patience, 
for perseverance, for industry ; encourage them to rea- 
son and to invent upon all subjects, and you may direct 
their attention afterward as you think proper. But if 
you applaud children merely for drawing a flower 
neatly, or copying a landscape, without exciting their 
ambition to any thing higher, you will never create 
superior talents, or a superior character. The profi- 
ciency that is made in any particular accomplishment, 
at any given age, should not be considered so much, 
even by those who highly value accomplishments, as 
the power, the energy, that is excited in the pupil's mind, 
from which future progress is ensured. The writing 
and drawing automaton performs its advertised wonders 
to the satisfaction of the spectators ; but the machine is 
not " instinct with spirit ;" you cannot expect from its 
pencil the sketch of a Raphael, or from its pen the 
thoughts of a Shakspeare. It is easy to guide the hand, 
but who can transfuse a soul into the image 1 

It is not an uncommon thing to hear young people 
who have been long under the tuition of masters, com- 
plain of their own want of genius. They are sensible 
that they have not made great progress in any of the 
accomplishments which they have endeavoured to learn ; 
they see others, who have not, perhaps, had what they 
call such opportunities and advantages in their education, 
suddenly surpass them ; this they attribute to natural 
genius, and they say to themselves in despair, " Cer- 
tainly I have no taste for drawing ; I have no genius for 
music ; I have learned so many years, I have had so 
many lessons from the best masters, and yet here is 
such and such a one, who has had no master, who has 
taught herself, and, perhaps, did not begin till late in life, 
has got before me, because she has a natural genius for 
these things. She must have a natural taste for them, 
because she can sit whole hours at these things for her 
own pleasure. Now I never would take a pencil in my 
hand from my own choice ; and I am glad, at all events, 
that the time for lessons and masters is over. My edu- 
cation is finished, for I am of age." 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 393 

The disgust and despair which are thus induced by an 
injudicious education, absolutely defeat its own trivial 
purposes. So that, whatever may be the views of pa- 
rents, whether they consider ornamental accomplish- 
ments as essential to their daughter's success in the 
world, or whether they value them rather as secondary 
objects, subordinate to her happiness ; whether they 
wish their daughter actually to excel in any particular 
accomplishment, or to have the power of excelling in 
any to which circumstances may direct her, it is in all 
cases advisable to cultivate the general power of the 
pupil's understanding, instead of confining her to tech- 
nical practices and precepts, under the eye of any master 
who does not possess that which is the soul of every art. 

We do not mean any illiberal attack upon masters ; 
but in writing upon education, it is necessary to exam- 
ine the utility of different modes of instruction, without 
fear of offending any class of men. We acknowledge 
that it is seldom found, that those who can communicate 
their knowledge the best possess the most, especially if 
this knowledge be that of an artist or a linguist. Before 
any person is properly qualified to teach, he must have 
the power of recollecting exactly how -^e learned; he 
must go back, step by step, to the point at which he 
began, and he must be able to conduct his pupil through 
the same path, without impatience or precipitation. He 
must not only have acquired a knowledge of the process 
by which his own ideas and habits were formed, but he 
must have extensive experience of the varieties of the 
human mind. He must not suppose that the operations 
of intellect are carried on in the same manner in all 
minds; he must not imagine that there is but one 
method of teaching, which will suit all persons alike. 
The analogies which strike his own mind, the arrange- 
ment of ideas which to him appears the most perspicu- 
ous, to his pupil may appear remote and confused. He 
must not attribute this to his pupil's inattention, stupid- 
ity, or obstinacy ; but he must attribute it to the true 
causes; the different association of ideas in different 
minds, the different habits of thinking which arise from 
their various tempers and previous education. He must 
be acquainted with the habits of all tempers : the slow, 
the quick, the inventive, the investigating ; and he must 
adapt his instructions accordingly. There is something 
more requisite : a master must not only know what he 
R3 



394 PRACTICAL EDUCATION'. 

professes to teach of his own peculiar art or science, 
but he ought to know all its bearings and dependances. 
He must be acquainted not only with the local topog- 
raphy of his own district, but he must have the whole 
map of human knowledge before him; and while he 
dwells most upon his own province, he must yet be free 
from local prejudices, and must consider himself as a 
citizen of the world. Children who study geography 
in small separate maps, understand, perhaps, the view 
of each country tolerably well ; but we see them quite 
puzzled when they are to connect these maps in their 
idea of the world. They do not know the relative size 
or situation of England or France ; they cannot find 
London or Paris when they look for the first time upon 
the globe, and every country seems to be turned upside 
down in their imagination. Young people who learn 
particular arts and sciences from masters who have 
confined their view to the boundaries of each, without 
liaving given an enlarged idea of the whole, are much in 
the same situation with these unfortunate geographers. 

The persisting to teach things separately which 
ought to be taught as a whole, must prevent the progress 
of mental cultivation.* The division and subdivision 
of different parts of education, which are monopolized 
as trades by the masters who profess to teach them, 
must tend to increase and perpetuate error. These in- 
tellectual castes are pernicious. 

It is said that the Persians had masters to teach their 
children each separate virtue: one master to teach jus- 
tice, another fortitude, another temperance, and so on. 
How these masters could preserve the boundaries of 
their several moral territories, it is not easy to imagine, 
especially if they all insisted upon independent sover- 
eignty. There must have been some danger, surely, of 
their disputing with each other concerning the impor- 
tance of their respective professions, like the poor 
bourgeois gentilhomme's dancing-master, music-master, 
master of morality, and master of philosophy, who all 
fell to blows to settle their pretensions, forgetful of the 
presence of their pupil. Masters who are only ex- 
pected to teach one thing, may be sincerely anxious for 
the improvement of their pupils in that particular, with- 
out being in the least interested for their general char- 

* Condillac. 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 395 

acter or happiness. Thus the drawing-master has done 
his part, and is satisfied if he teaches his pupil to draw 
well: it is no concern of his what her temper may be, 
any more than wliat sort of hand she writes, or how she 
dances. The dancing-master, in his turn, is wholly in- 
different about the young lady's progress in drawing; 
all he undertakes is to teach her to dance. 

We mention these circumstances to show parents 
that masters, even when they do the utmost that they 
engage to do, cannot educate their children ; they can 
only partially instruct them in particular arts. Parents 
must themselves preside over the education of their 
children, or must entirely give them into the care of 
some person of an enlarged and philosophic mind, who 
can supply all the deficiencies of common masters, and 
who can take advantage of all the positive good that can 
be obtained from existing institutions, ^uch a pre- 
ceptor or governess must possess extensive knowledge, 
and chat superiority of mind which sees the just pro- 
portion and value of every acquisition, which is not to 
be overawed by authority, or dazzled by fashion. Under 
the eye of such persons, masters will keep precisely 
their proper places ; they will teach all they can teach, 
without instilling absurd prejudices, or inspiring a spirit 
of vain rivalship ; nor will masters be suffered to continue 
their lessons when they have nothing more to teach. 

Parents who do not think that they have leisure, or 
feel that they have capacit)'-, to take the entire direction 
of their children's education upon themselves, will trust 
this important oflice to a governess. The inquiry con- 
cerning the value of female accomplishments, has been 
purposely entered into before we could speak of the 
choice of a governess, because the estimation in which 
these are held will very much determine parents in their 
choice. 

If what has been said of the probability of a decline 
in the public taste for what are usually called accom- 
plishments ; of their little utility to the happiness of 
families and individuals ; of the waste of time, and 
waste of the higher powers of the mind in acquiring 
them ; if what has been observed on any of these points 
is allowed to be just, we shall have little difficulty in 
pursuing the same principles farther. In the choice of 
a governess we should not then consider her fashion- 
able accomplishments as her best recommendations ; 



396 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

these will be only secondary objects. We shall exannine, 
with more anxiety, whether she possess a sound, dis- 
criminating, and enlarged understanding: whether her 
mind be free from prejudice ; whether she has steadi- 
ness of temper to pursue her own plans ; and, above all, 
whether she has that species of integrity which will 
justify a parent in trusting a child to her care. We 
shall attend to her conversation and observe her man- 
ners, with scrupulous minuteness. Children are imitative 
animals, and they are peculiarly disposed to imitate the 
language, manners, and gestures, of those with whom 
they live, and to whom they look up with admiration. 
In female education, too much care cannot be taken to 
form all those habits in morals and in manners which 
are distinguishing characteristics of amiable women. 
These habits must be acquired early, or they will never 
appear easy or graceful ; they will necessarily be formed 
by those who see none but good models. 

We have already pointed out the absolute necessity 
of union among all those who are concerned in a child's 
education. A governess must either rule or obey, de- 
cidedly. If she do not agree with the child's parents in 
opinion, she must either know how to convince them 
by argument, or she must with strict integrity conform 
her practice to their theories. There are few parents 
who will choose to give up the entire care of their 
children to any governess ; therefore, there will prob- 
ably be some points in which a difference of opinion 
will arise. A sensible woman will never submit to be 
treated, as governesses are in some families, like the ser- 
vant who was asked by his master what business he had 
to think: nor will a woman of sense or temper insist 
upon her opinions without producing her reasons. She 
will thus ensure the respect and the confidence of en- 
lightened parents. 

It is surely the interest of parents to treat the person 
who educates their children with that perfect equality 
and kindness which will conciliate her affection, and 
which will at the same time preserve her influence and 
authority over her pupils. And it is with pleasure we 
observe, that the style of behaviour to governesses, in 
wellbred families, is much changed within these few 
years. A governess is no longer treated as an upper 
servant, or as an intermediate being between a servant 
and a gentlewoman : she is now treated as the friend 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 397 

and companion of the family ; and she must, conse- 
quently, have warm and permanent interest in its pros- 
perity : she becomes attached to her pupils from grati- 
tude to their parents, from sympathy, from generosity, 
as well as from the strict sense of duty. 

In fashionable life there is, however, some danger that 
parents should go into extremes in their behaviour 
towards their governesses. Those who disdain the idea 
of assuming superiority of rank and fortune, and who 
desire to treat the person who educates their children as 
their equal, act with perfect propriety ; but if they make 
her their companion in all their amusements, they go a 
step too far, and they defeat their own purposes. If a 
governess attends the card-table and the assembly- 
room ; if she is to visit and be visited, what is to be- 
come of her pupils in her absence 1 They must be left 
to the care of servants. There are some ladies who 
will not accept of any invitation in which the govern- 
ess of their children is not included. This may be done 
from a good motive, but, surely, it is unreasonable ; for 
the very use of a governess is to supply the mother's 
place in her absence. Cannot this be managed better ! 
Cannot the mother and governess both amuse them- 
selves at different times 1 There would then be perfect 
equality ; the governess would be in the same society, 
and would be treated with the same respect, without 
neglecting her duty. The reward which is given to 
women of abilities and of unblemished reputation, who 
devote themselves to the superintendence of the educa- 
tion of young ladies in the higher ranks of life, ought to 
be considerably greater than it is at present : it ought to 
be such as to excite women to cultivate their talents 
and their understandings, with a view to this profession. 
A profession we call it, for it should be considered as 
such ; as an honourable profession, which a gentlewoman 
might follow without losing any degree of the estima- 
tion in which she is held by what is called the ivorld. 
There is no employment, at present, by which a gentle- 
woman can maintain herself, without losing something of 
that respect, something of that rank in society, which 
neither female fortitude nor male philosopliy wil- 
lingly foregoes. The liberal professions are open to men 
of small fortunes ; by presenting one similar resource 
to women, we should give a strong motive for their 
moral and intellectual improvement. 



398 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Nor does it seem probable that they should make a 
disgraceful or imprudent use of their increasing influ- 
ence and liberty in this case, because their previous 
education must previously prepare them properly. The 
misfortune of women has usually been, to have power 
trusted to them before they were educated to use it 
prudently. To say that preceptresses in the higher 
ranks of life should be liberally rewarded, is but a vague 
expression ; something specific should be mentioned, 
wherever general utility is the object. Let us observe, 
that many of the first dignities of the church are be- 
stowed, and properly bestowed, upon men who have 
educated the highest ranks of the English nobility. 
Those who look with an evil eye upon these promotions, 
do not fairly estimate the nalional importance of educa- 
tion for the rich and powerful. No provision can be 
I made for women who direct the education of the 
daughters of nobility, any way equivalent to the pro- 
vision made for preceptors by those who have influence 
in the state. A pecuniary compensation is in tlie power 
of opulent families. Three hundred a year, for twelve 
or fourteen years, the space of time which a preceptress 
must probiibly employ in the education of a young lady, 
would be a suitable compensation for her care. With 
this provision she would be enabled, after her pupil's 
education was completed, either to settle in her own 
family, or she would, in the decline of life, be happily 
independent, — secure fr.om the temptation of marrying 
for money. If a few munificent and enlightened indi- 
viduals set the example of liberally rewarding merit in 
this situation, many young women will probably appear 
with talents and good qualities suited to the views of 
the most sanguine parents. With good sense and 
literary tastes, a young woman might instruct herself 
during the first years of her pupil's childhood, and might 
gradually prepare herself with all the necessary knowl- 
edge : according to the principles that have been sug- 
gested, there would be no necessity for her being a 
mistress of arts^ a performer in music, a painter, a lin- 
guist, or a poetess. A general knowledge of literature 
is indispensable ; and yet farther, she must have sufficient 
taste and judgment to direct the literary talents of her 
pupils. 

With respect to the literary education of the female 
sex, the arguments on both sides of the question have 



FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ETC. 399 

already been stated, with all the impartiality in cur 
power, in another place.* Without obtruding a detail 
of the same arguments again upon the public, it will be 
sufficient to profess tne distinct opinion, which a longer 
consideration of the subject has yet more fully con- 
firmed. That it will tend to the happiness of society in 
general, that women should have tlieir understandings 
cultivated and enlarged as much as possible ; that the 
happiness of domestic life, the virtues and the powers 
of pleasing in the female sex, the yet more desirable 
power of attaching those worthy of their love and 
esteem, will be increased by the judicious cultivation of 
the female understanding, more than by all that modern 
gallantry or ancient chivalry could devise in favour of 
the sex. Much prudence and ability are requisite to 
conduct properly a young woman's literary education. 
Her imagination must not be raised above the taste for 
necessary occupations, or the numerous small, but not 
trifling, pleasures of domestic life : her mind must be 
enlarged, yet the delicacy of her manners must be pre- 
served : her knowledge must be various, and her powers 
of reasoning unawed by authority ; yet she must habitu- 
ally feel that nice sense of propriety which is at once 
the guard and the charm of every feannine virtue. By 
early caution, unremitting, scrupulous caution in the 
choice of the books which are put into the hands of 
girls, a mother or a preceptress may fully occupy and 
entertain her pupils, and excite in their minds a taste for 
propriety, as well as a taste for hterature. It cannot be 
necessary to add more than this general idea, that a 
mother ought to be answerable to her daughter's hus- 
band for the books her daughter had read, as well as for 
the company she had kept. 

Those observations which apply equally to the cul- 
tivation of the understanding both of men and of women, 
we do not here mean to point out : we would speak onl}'^ 
of what may be peculiar to female education. From 
the study of the learned languages, women, by custom, 
fortunately for them, are exempted : of ancient litera- 
ture they may, in translations which are acknowledged 
to be excellent, obtain a sufficient knowledge, without 
paying too much time and labour for this classic pleas- 
ure. Confused notions from fashionable publications* 

* See Letters for Literary Ladies. 



400 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

from periodical papers, and comedies, have made their 
way into common conversation, and thence have as- 
sumed an appearance of authority, and have been ex- 
tremely disadvantageous to female education. Senti- 
ment and ridicule have conspired to represent reason, 
knowledge, and science, as unsuitable or dangerous to 
women ; yet at the same time wit, and superficial ac- 
quirements in literature, have been the object of admi- 
ration in society ; so that this dangerous inference has 
been drawn, almost without our perceiving its fallacy, 
that superficial knowledge is more desirable in women 
than accurate knowledge. This principle must lead to 
innumerable errors ; it must produce continual contra- 
dictions in the course of education : instead of making 
women more reasonable and less presuming, it will 
render them at once arrogant and ignorant ; full of pre- 
tensions, incapable of application, and unfit to hear them- 
selves convinced. Whatever young women learn, let 
them be taught accurately ; let them know ever so little 
apparently, they will know much if they have learned 
that little well. A girl who runs through a course of 
natural history, hears something about chymistry, has 
been taught something of botany, and who knows but 
just enough of these to make her fancy that she is well 
informed, is in a miserable situation, in danger of be- 
coming ridiculous, and insupportably tiresome to men of 
sense and science. But let a woman know any one thing 
completely, and she will have sufficient understanding 
to learn more, and to apply what she has been taught so 
as to interest men of generosity and genius in her fa- 
vour. The knowledge of the general principles of any 
science, is very different from superficial knowledge of 
the science ; perhaps, from not attending to this distinc- 
tion, or from not understanding it, many have failed in 
female education. Some attempt will be made to mark 
this distinction practically, when we come to speak of 
the cultivation of the memory, invention, and judgment. 
No intelligent preceptress will, it is hoped, find any diffi- 
culty in the application of the observations she may 
meet with in the chapters on imagination, sympathy and 
sensibility, vanity and temper. The masculine pronoun 
he, has been used for grammatical convenience, not at 
all because we agree with the prejudiced and uncour- 
teous grammarian, who asserts, " that the masculine is 
the more worthy gender." 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 401 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MEMORY AND INVENTION. 

Before we bestow many years of time and pains upon 
any object, it may be prudent to afford a few minutes 
previously to ascertain its precise value. Many per- 
sons have a vague idea of the great value of memory, 
and, without analyzing their opinion, they resolve to 
cultivate the memories of their children as much, and 
as soon, as possible. So far from having determined the 
value of this talent, we shall find that it will be difficult 
to give a popular definition of a good memory. Some 
people call that a good memory which retains the great- 
est number of ideas for the longest time. Others prefer 
a recollective to a retentive memory, and value not so 
much the number, as the selection, of facts ; not so 
much the mass or even the antiquity of accumulated 
treasure, as the power of producing current specie for 
immediate use. Memory is sometimes spoken of as if 
it were a faculty admirable in itself, without any union 
with the other powers of the mind. Among those who 
allow that memory has no independent claim to regard, 
there are yet many who believe, that a superior degree 
of memory is essential to the successful exercise of the 
higher faculties, such as judgment and invention. The 
degree in which it is useful to those powers, has not, 
however, been determined. Those who are governed 
in their opinions by precedent and authority, can pro- 
duce many learned names to prove that memory was 
held in the highest estimation among the great men of 
antiquity ; it was cultivated with much anxiety in their 
public institutions, and in their private education. But 
there were many circumstances which formerly con- 
tributed to make a great memory essential to a great 
man. In civil and military employments, among the 
ancients, it was in a high degree requisite. Generals 
were expected to know by heart the names of the sol- 
diers in their armies ; demagogues who hoped to please 
the people, were expected to know the names of all 



402 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their fellow-citizens.* Orators who did not speak ex- 
tempore, were obhged to get their long orations by rote. 
Those who studied science or philosophy, were obliged 
to cultivate their memory with incessant care, because, 
if they frequented tiie schools for instruction, they treas- 
ured up the sayings of the masters of different sects, 
and learned their doctrines only by oral instruction. 
Manuscripts were frequently got by heart by those who 
were eager to secure the knowledge they contained, 
and who had not opportunities of recurring to the origi- 
nals. It is not surprising, therefore, that memory, to 
which so much was trusted, should have been held in 
such high esteem. 

At the revival of literature in Europe, before the dis- 
covery of the art of printing, it was scarcely possible to 
make any progress m the literature of the age, without 
possessing a retentive memory. A man who had read 
a few manuscripts and could repeat them, was a wonder 
and a treasure : he could travel from place to place, and 
live by his learning; he was a circulating library to a 
nation, and the more booivs he could carry in his head, 
the better: he was certain of an admiring audience, if 
he could repeat what Aristotle or Saint Jerome had 
written ; and he had far more encouragement to engrave 
the words of others on his memory, than to nivent or 
judge for himself. 

In the twelfth century, above six hundred scholars 
assembled in the forests of Champagne, to hear the lec- 
tures of the learned Abeillard ; they made themselves 
huts of the boughs of trees, and in this new academic 
grove were satisfied to go ahiiost without the necessa- 
ries of life. In the specimens of Abeillard's -composi- 
tion which are handed down to us, we may discover 
proofs of his havmg been vain of a surprising memory; 
it seems to have been the superior faculty of his mind: 
his six hundred pupils could carry away with them only 
so much of liis learning as tiiey could get by heart du- 
ring his course of lectures ; and he who had the best 
memory, must have been best paid for his journey.f 

The art of printing, by multiplying copies so as to put 
them within the easy reference of all classes of people, 
has reduced the value of this species of retentive mem- 

* See Plutarch. Quintilian. 

t Berrington's History of the Lives of Abeillard and Heloisa, p. 173. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 403 

cry. It is better to refer to the book itself, than to the 
man who has read the book. Knowledge is now ready 
classed for use, and it is safely stored up in the great 
commonplace books of public libraries. A man of lit- 
erature need not encumber his memory with whole pas- 
sages from the authors he wants to quote ; he need only 
mark down the page, and the words are safe. 

Mer3 erudition does not in these days ensure perma- 
nent fame. The names of the Abbe de Longuerue and 
of the Florentine librarian Magliabechi, excite no vivid 
emotions in the minds of those who have heard of them 
before ; and there are many, perhaps not illiterate per- 
sons, who would not be ashamed to own that they had 
never heard of them at all. Yet these men were both 
of them, but a few years ago, remarkable for extraordi- 
nary memory and erudition. When M. de Longuerue 
was a child, he was such a prodigy of memory and 
knowledge, that Louis XIV., passing through the abbe's 
province, stopped to see and hear him. When he grew 
up, Paris consulted him as the oracle of learning. His 
erudition, says d'Alembert,* was not only prodigious, 
but actually terrible. Greek and Hebrew were more 
familiar to him than his native tongue. His memory 
was so well furnished with historic facts, with chrono- 
logical and topographical knowledge, that upon hearing 
a person assert, in conversation, that it would be a diffi- 
cult task to write a good historical description of France,! 
he asserted that he could do it from memory, without 
consulting any books. All he asked was to have some 
maps of France laid before him : these recalled to his 
mind the history of each province, of all the fiefs of the 
crown of each city, and even of each distinguished no- 
bleman's seat in the kingdom. He wrote his folio his- 
tory in a year. It was admired as a great curiosity in 
manuscript; but when it came to be printed, sundry 
gross errors appeared : he was obliged to take out sev- 
eral leaves in correcting the press. The edition was 
very expensive, and the work at last would have been 
rather more acceptable to the public if the author had 
not written it from memory. Love of the wonderful 
must yield to esteem for the useful. 

The effect which all this erudition had upon the Abb6 

* Eloge de M. L'Abbe d'Alary. 

t Marquis d'Argenson's Essays, p. 385. 



404 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

de Longuerue's taste, judgment, and imagination, is 
worth our attention. Some of his opinions speak suffi- 
ciently for our purpose. He was of opinion that the 
English have never done any good,* since they renounced 
the study of Greek and Arabic for Geometry and Phys- 
ics. He was of opinion that two antiquarian books upon 
Homer, viz., Antiquitates Homerica. and Homeri Gnomo- 
ligia, are preferable to Homer himself. He would rath- 
er have them, he declared, because with these he had 
all that was useful in the poet, without being obliged to 
go through long stories, which put him to sleep. " As 
for that madman Ariosto," said he, " I sometimes divert 
myself with him." One odd volume of Racine was the 
only French book to be found in his library. His eru- 
dition died with him, and the world has not profited 
much by his surprising memory. 

The librarian Magliabechi was no less famous than 
M. de Longuerue for his memory, and he was yet more 
strongly affected by the mania for books. His appetite 
for them was so voracious, that he acquired the name 
of the glutton of literature.! Before he died, he had 
swallowed six large rooms full of books. Whether he had 
time to digest any of them we do not know, but we are 
sure that he wished it ; for the only line of his own com- 
position which he has left for the instruction of posterity, 
is round a medal. The medal represents him sitting 
with a book in his hand, and with a great number of 
books scattered on the floor round him. Tlie candid in- 
scription signifies, that to become learned it is not suffi- 
cient to read much, if we read without reflection. The 
names of Franklin and of Shakspeare are known wher- 
ever literature is cultivated, to all who have any preten- 
sions to science or to genius ; yet they were not men of 
extraordinary erudition, nor from their works should we 
judge that memory was their predominant faculty. It 
may be said that a superior degree of memory was es- 
sential to the exercise of their judgment and invention ; 
that without having treasured up in his memory a vari- 
ety of minute observations upon human nature, Shak- 
speare could never have painted the passions with so 
bold and just a hand ; that if Franklin had not accurately 
remembered his own philosophical observations and 

* D'Alembert's Eloge de M. d'Alary. 

t Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii. page 145. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 406 

those of others, he never would have made those 
discoveries which have immortalized his name. Ad- 
mitting the justice of these assertions, we see that mem- 
ory to great men is but a subordinate servant, a treas- 
urer who receives, and is expected to keep faithfully- 
whatever is committed to his care ; and not only to pre- 
serve faithfully all deposites, but to produce them at the 
moment they are wanted. There are substances which 
are said to imbibe and retain the rays of light, and to 
emit them only in certain situations. As long as they 
retain the rays, no eye regards them. 

It has often been observed that a recollective and a 
retentive memory are seldom found united. If this were 
true, and we had our choice of either, which should we 
prefer 1 For the purposes of ostentation, perhaps the 
one ; for utility, the other. A person who could repeat 
from beginning to end the whole Economy of Human 
Life, which he had learned in his childhood, might, if we 
had time to sit still and listen to him, obtain our admira- 
tion for his extraordinarily retentive memory ; but the 
person who, in daily occurrences or interesting affairs, 
recollects at the proper time what is useful to us, ob- 
tains from our gratitude something more than vain ad- 
miration. To speak accurately, we must remark that 
retentive and recollective memories are but relative 
terms: the recollective memory must be retentive of all 
that it recollects ; the retentive memory cannot show 
itself till the moment it becomes recollective. But we 
value either precisely in proportion as it is useful and 
agreeable. 

Just at the time when philosophers were intent upon 
trying experiments in electricity, Dr. Heberden recol- 
lected to have seen, many years before, a small elec- 
trical stone, called tourmalin,* in the possession of Dr. 
Sharpe at Cambridge. It was the only one known in 
England at that lime. Dr. Heberden procured it ; and 
several curious experiments were made and verified with 
it. In this instance, it is obvious that we admire the 
retentive, local memory of Dr. Heberden, merely be- 
cause it became recollective and useful. Had the tour- 
malin never been wanted, it would have been a matter 
of indifference whether the direction for it at Dr. vSharpe's 
at Cambridge had been remembered or forgotten. There 

* Priestley on Electricity, page 317. 



406 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

was a man* who undertook, in going from Temple Bar 
to the farthest part of Cheapside and back again, to enu- 
merate at his return every sign on each side of the way 
in its order, and to repeat them, if it should be required, 
either backward or forward. This he exactly accom- 
plished. As a playful trial of memory, this aifords us a 
moment's entertainment ; but if we were to be serious 
upon the subject, we should say it was a pity that the 
man did not use his extraordinary memory for some 
better purpose. The late King of Prussia, when he in- 
tended to advance Trenck in the army, upon his first 
introduction, gave him a list of the strangest names 
which could be picked out, to learn by rote. Trenck 
learned them quickly, and the king was much pleased 
with this instance of his memory ; but Frederick would 
certainly never have made such a trial of the abilities 
of Voltaire. 

We cannot always foresee what facts may be useful 
and what may be useless to us, — otherwise the cultiva- 
tion of the memory might be conducted by unerring 
rules. In the common business of life, people regulate 
their memories by the circumstances in which they hap- 
pen to be placed. A clerk in a counting-house, by prac- 
tice learns to remember the circumstances, affairs, and 
names of numerous merchants, — of his master's cus- 
tomers, the places of their abode, and perhaps something 
of their peculiar humours and manners. A fine lady re- 
members her visiting list, and perhaps the dresses and 
partners of every couple at a crowded ball ; she finds all 
these particulars a useful supply for daily conversation, 
she therefore remembers them with care. An amateur 
who is ambitious to shine in the society of literary men, 
collects literary anecdotes, and retails them whenever 
occasion permits. Men of sense, who cultivate their 
memories for useful purposes, are not obliged to treas- 
ure up heterogeneous facts : by reducing particulars to 
general principles, and by connecting them with proper 
associations, they enjoy all the real advantages, while 
they are exempt from the labour of accumulation. 

Mr. Stewart has, with so much ability, pointed out 
the effects of systematic arrangement of writing, read- 
ing, and the use of technical contrivances in the cultiva- 
tion of the memory, that it would be a presumptuous 

* Fuller, author of the Worthies of England. See Curio.sities of 
Literature, vol. I. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 407 

and unnecessary attempt to expatiate in other words 
upon the same subject. It may not be useless, however, 
to repeat a few of his observations, because, in consider- 
ing what farther improvement may be made, it is always 
essential to have fully in our view what is already 
knowm. 

" Philosophic arrangement assists the memory, by 
classing under a few principles a number of apparently 
dissimilar and unconnected particulars. The habit, for 
instance, of attending to the connexion of cause and 
effect, presents a multitude of interesting analogies to the 
minds of men of science, which escape other persons ; 
the vulgar feel no pleasure in contemplating objects that 
appear remote from common life , and they find it ex- 
tremely difficult to remember observations and reasonings 
which are foreign to their customary course of associated 
ideas. Even literary and ingenious people, when they 
begin to learn any art or science, usually complain that 
their memory is not able to retain all the terms and 
ideas which pour in upon them with perplexing rapidity. 
In time this difficulty is conquered, not so much by the 
strength of the memory as by the exercise of judgment : 
they learn to distinguish and select the material terms, 
facts, and arguments, from those that are subordinate, 
and they class them under general heads, to reheve the 
memory from all superfluous labour. 

" In all studies there is some prevalent associating prin- 
ciple, which gradually becomes familiar to our minds, 
but which we do not immediately discover in our first 
attempts. In poetry, resemblance ; in philosophy, cause 
and effect ; in mathematics, demonstrations continually 
recur ; and, therefore, each is expected by persons who 
have been used to these respective studies. 

" The habit of committing our knowledge to writing 
assists the memory, because, in writing, we detain cer- 
tain ideas long enough in our view to perceive all their 
relations ; we use fixed and abbreviated signs for all our 
thoughts ; with the assistance of these, we can prevent 
confusion in our reasonings. We can, without fatigue, 
by the help of words, letters, figures, or algebraic signs, 
go through a variety of mental processes, and solve 
many difficult problems, which, without such assistance, 
must have been too extensive for our capacities. 

" If our books be well chosen, and if we read with dis- 
crimination and attention, reading will improve the mem- 



408 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ory, because, as it increases our knowledge, it increases 
our interest in every new discovery and in every new 
combination of ideas." 

We agree entirely with Mr. Stewart in his observa- 
tions upon technical helps to the memory ; they are 
hurtful to the understanding, because they break the 
general habits of philosophic order in the mind. There 
is no connexion of ideas between the memorial lines, for 
instance, in Gray's Memoria Technica, the history of the 
kings or emperors, and the dates that we wish to re- 
member. However, it may be advantageous in educa- 
tion to use such contrivances, to assist our pupils in re- 
membering those technical parts of knowledge which 
are sometimes valued above their worth in society. 

The facts upon which the principles of any science 
are founded, should never be learned by rote in a tech- 
nical manner. But the names and the dates of the reigns 
of a number of kings and emperors, if they must be re- 
membered by children, should be learned in the manner 
which may give them the least trouble.* 

It is commonly asserted that our memory is to be 
improved by exercise ; exercise may be of different 
kinds, and we must determine what sort is best. Repeti- 
tion is found to fix words, and sometimes ideas, strongly 
in the mind ; the words of the burden of a song which we 
have frequently heard, are easily and long remembered. 
When we want to get any thing by rote, we repeat it 
over and over again, till the sounds seem to follow each 
other habitually, and then we say we have them per- 
fectly by rote.f The regular recurrence of sounds, at 
stated intervals, much assists us. In poetry, the rhymes, 
the cadence, the alliteration, the peculiar structure of 
the poet's lines, aid us. All these are mechanical helps 
to the memory. Repetition seems much more agree- 
able to some people than to others ; but it may be 
doubted whether a facility and propensity to repetition 
be favourable to rational memory. While we repeat, 
we exclude all thought from the mind ; we form a habit 
of saying certain sounds in a certain order; but if this 
habit be afterward broken by any trifling external cir- 
cumstances, we lose all our labour. We have no means 
of recollecting what we have learned in this manner. 



* See chapter on Books, and on Geography, 
t Dr. Darwin. Zoonomia. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 409 

Once gone, it is gone for ever. It depends but upon one 
principle of association. Those who exert ingenuity as 
well as memory in learning by heart, may not, perhaps, 
associate sounds with so much expedition, but they will 
have the power of recollection in a greater degree. 
They will have more chances in their favour, besides 
the great power of voluntary exertion — a power which 
few passive repeaters ever possess. The following 
lines are easily learned : — 

"Haste, then, ye spirits; to your charge repair; 
The fluttering fan be Zephyretta's care ; 
The drops to thee, Rrillante, we consign, 
And, Momentilla, let the watch be thine ; 
Do thou, Crispissa, tend her favourite lock, 
Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock." 

To a person who merely learned the sounds in these 
lines by rote, without knowing the sense of the words, 
all the advantage of the appropriated names and offices 
of the sylphs would be lost. No one, who has any 
sense of propriety, can call these sylphs by wrong 
names, or put them out of their places. Momentilla and 
the watch, Zephyrettu and the fan, Crispissa and the 
lock of hair, Brillante and the diamond drops, are so in- 
timately associated, that they necessarily recur together 
in the memory. The following celebrated lines on Envy, 
some people will find easy, and others difficult, to learn 
by heart : — 

" Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue ; 
But, like a shadow, proves the substance true ; 
For envi'd wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known 
Th' opposing body's grossness, not its own. 
"V^'hen first that sun too pow'rful beams displays, 
It draws up vapour, which obscures its rays; 
But ev'n those clouds at last adorn its way, 
Reflect new glories, and augnient the day." 

The flow of these lines is not particularly easy ; those 
who trust merely to the power of reiteration in getting 
them by rote, will find the task difficult ; those who 
seize the ideas, will necessarily recollect their order, 
and the sense will conduct them to their proper places 
with certainty ; they cannot, for instance, make the 
clouds adorn the sun's rays before the sun's powerful 
beams have drawn up the vapours. This fixes the place 
of the four last lines. The simile of merit and the 
sun, and envy and the clouds, keeps each idea in its 



410 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

order ; if any one escapes, it is easily nmissed, and easily- 
recalled. 

We seldom meet with those who can give us an ac- 
curate account of their own thoughts ; it is, therefore, 
difficult to tell the different ways in which different peo- 
ple manage their memory. We judge by the effects fre- 
quently, that causes are the same, which sometimes are 
entirely different. Thus, we in common conversation 
should say, that two people had an equally good mem- 
ory, who could repeat with equal exactness any 
thing which they had heard or read. But in their meth- 
ods of remembering, these persons might differ essen- 
tially ; the one might have exerted much more judg- 
ment and ingenuity in the conduct of his memory than 
the other, and might thus have not only fatigued him- 
self less, but might have improved his understanding, 
-while the other learned merely by rote. When Dr. 
Johnson reported the parliamentary debates for the 
Gentleman's Magazine, his judgment, his habit of attend- 
ing to the order in which ideas follow each other 
in reasoning, his previous knowledge of the characters 
and style of the different speakers, must considerably 
have assisted his memory. His taste for literary com- 
position must have shown him instantly where any 
argument or allusion was misplaced, A connecting 
phrase, or a link in a chain of reasoning, is missed as 
readily by a person used to writing and argument, as a 
word in a line of poetry is missed by a poetic ear. If 
any thing has escaped the memory of persons who re- 
member by general classification, they are not only by 
their art able to discover that something is missing, but 
they have a general direction where to find it ; they 
know to what class of ideas it must belong ; they can 
hunt from generals to particulars, till they are sure at 
last of tracing and detecting the deserter ; they have 
certain signs by which they know the object of wiiich 
they are in search, and they trust with more certainty 
to these characteristics than to the mere vague recol- 
lection of liaving seen it before. We feel disposed to 
trust the memory of those who can give us some reason 
for what they remember. If they can prove to us that 
their assertion could not, consistently with other facts, 
be false, we admit the assertion into the rank of facts, 
and their judgment thus goes surety for their menjory. 

The following advertisement (taken from the Star of 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 411 

the -list September, 1796) may show that experience 
justifies these theoretic notions : 

" LITERATURE. 

*• A gentleman capable of reporting the debates in 
parliament, is wanted for a London newspaper A busi- 
ness of no such great difficulty as is generally iniagined 
by those unacquainted with it. A tolerable good style, 
and facility of composition, as Avell as a facility of 
writing, together with a good memory {not an extraor- 
dinary one) are all the necessary requisites. If a gen- 
tleman writes shorthand, it is an advantage; but mem- 
ory and composition are more important. 

" The advertiser, conceiving that many gentlemen, 
either in London or at the universities, or in other parts 
of the kingdom, may think such a situation desirable, 
takes this public method of enabling them to obtain it. 
The salary, which will vary according to the talents of 
the reporter, will at least afford a genteel subsistence, 
and the business need not interrupt the pursuit of stud- 
ies necessary for a more important profession. A gen- 
tleman who has never tried parliamentary reporting^ tinll be 
preferred by the advertiser, because he has observed, that 
those who have last attempted it are now the best reporters^ 

In the common mode of education, great exactness 
of repetition is required from pupils. This seems to 
be made a matter of too much importance. There are 
circumstances in life, in which this talent is useful; but 
its utility, perhaps, we shall find upon examination, is 
overrated. 

In giving evidence of words, dates, and facts, in a 
court of justice, the utmost precision is requisite. The 
property, lives, and characters of individuals, depend 
upon this precision. 

But we must observe, that after long detailed evi- 
dence has been given by a number of witnesses, an ad- 
vocate separates the material from the immaterial cir- 
cumstances, and the judge in his charge again compres- 
ses the arguments of the counsel, so that much of what 
has been said during the trial might as well have been 
omitted. All these superfluous ideas were remembered 
to no purpose. A witness sometimes, if he be per- 
mitted, would tell not only all that he remembers of the 
circumstances about which he is examined, but also a 
number of other circumstances, which are casually 
S 2 



412 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

associated with these in his memory. An able advo- 
cate rejects, by a quickness of judgment which appears 
like intuition, all that is irrelevant to his argument and 
his cause ; and it is by this selection that his memory, 
in the evidence, perhaps, of twenty dit!erent people, is 
able to retain all that is useful. When this heterogene- 
ous mass of evidence is classed by his perspicuous ar- 
rangement, his audience feel no difficulty either in 
understanding or recollecting all which had before 
appeared confused. Thus the exercise of the judgment 
saves much of the labour of memory; labour which is not 
merely unnecessary, but hurtful to our understanding. 

In making observations upon subjects which are new 
tons, we must be content to use our memory unassisted 
at first by our reason ; we must treasure up the ore and 
rubbish together, because we cannot immediately dis- 
tinguish them from each other. But the sooner we can 
separate them, the better. In the beginning of all ex- 
perimental sciences, a number of useless particulars are 
recorded, because they are not known to be useless ; 
when, by comparing these, a few general principles are 
discovered, the memory is immediately relieved, the 
judgment and inventive faculty have power and liberty 
to work, and tiien a rapid progress and great discoveries 
are made. It is the misfortune of those who first cul- 
tivate new sciences, that their memory is overloaded ; 
but if those who succeed to them submit to the same 
senseless drudgery, it is not their misfortune, but their 
fault. Let us look over the history of those who have 
made discoveries and inventions, we shall perceive, that 
it has been by rejecting useless ideas that they have 
first cleared their way to truth. Dr. Priestley's His- 
tories of Vision and of Electricity, are as useful when 
we consider them as histories of the human mind, as 
when we read them as histories of science. Dr. Priest- 
ley has published a catalogue of books,* from which 
he gathered his materials. The, pains, he tells us, that 
it cost him to compress and abridge the accounts which 
ingenious men have given of their own experiments, 
teach us how much our progress in real knowledge de- 
pends upon rejecting all that is superfluous. When Si- 
monides offered to teach Themistocles the art of mem- 
ory, Tiiemistocles answered, "Rather teach me the art 
of forgetting ; for I find that I remember much that I 

* At the end of tlie History of Vision. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 413 

had better forget, and forget {consequently^ some things 
which I wish to remember." 

When any discovery or invention is completed, we are 
frequently astonished at its obvious simplicity. The 
ideas necessary to the discovery are seldom so numer- 
ous as to fatigue our memory. Memory seems to have 
been useful to inventors only as it presented a few ideas 
in a certain happy connexion, as it presented them 
faithfully and distinctly to view in the proper moment. 
If we wish for examples of the conduct of the under- 
standing, we need only look into Dr. Franklin's works. 
He is so free from all affectation, he lays his mind so 
fairly before us, that he is, perhaps, the best example 
we can select. Those who are used to look at objects 
in a microscope, say, that full as much depends upon the 
object's being well prepared for inspection, as upon the 
attention of the observer, or the excellence of the glass. 

The first thing that strikes us, in looking over Dr. 
Franknn's works, is the variety of his observations upon 
different subjects. We might imagine that a very te- 
nacious and powerful memory was necessary to register 
all these ; but Dr. Franklin informs us, that it was his 
constant practice to note down every hint as it occurred 
to him : he urges his friends to do the same ; he observes, 
that there is scarcely a day passes without our hearing 
or seeing something which, if properly attended to, 
might lead to useful discoveries. By thus committing 
his ideas to writing, his mind was left at liberty to thmi. 
No extraordinary ef!brt of memory was, even upon the 
greatest occasions, requisite. A friend wrote to him to in- 
quire how he was led to his great discovery of the identity 
of lightning and electricity ; and how he first cam.e to 
think of drawing down lightning from the clouds. Dr. 
Franklin replies, that he could not answer better than by 
giving an extract from the minutes he used to keep of 
the experiments he made, with memoranda of such as he 
purposed to make, the reasons for making them, and 
the observations that rose upon them. By this extract, 
says Dr. Franklin, you will see that the thouglit was 
not so much an out of the way o?ie, but that it might have 
occurred to any electrician.* 

* " Nov. 7, 1749. Electrical fluid agrees with lightning in these 
particulars. 1. Giving light. 2. Colour of tlie hght. 3. Crooked 
direction. 4. Swift motion. 5. Being conducted by metals. 6. 



414 PRACTICAL EDUCATION', 

When tlie ideas are arranged in clear order, as we 
see theni in this note, the analogy or induction to which 
Dr. Frankhn was led appears easy. Why, then, had it 
never been made by any other person ? Numbers of 
ingenious men were at this time intent upon electricity. 
The ideas which were necessary to this discovery 
were not numerous or complicated. We may remark, 
that one analogy connecting these observations to'gether, 
they are more easily recollected ; and their being writ- 
ten down for a particular purpose, on which Dr. Frank- 
lin's mind was intent, must have made it still easier to 
him to retain them. 

The degree of memory he was forced to employ, is 
thus reduced to a portion in which few people are de- 
fective. Now, let us suppose that Dr. Franklin, at the 
time he wrote his memorandum, had fully in his recol- 
lection every previous experiment that had ever been 
tried on electricity ; and not only these, but the theo- 
ries, names, ages, and private history, of all the men 
who had tried these experiments ; of what advantage 
would this have been to him 1 He must have excluded 
all these impertinent ideas successively as they rose be- 
fore him, and he must have selected the fifteen useful 
observations which we have mentioned, from this troub- 
lesome multitude. The chance in such a selection 
would have been against him ; the time employed in the 
examination and rejection of all the unnecessary recol- 
lections, would have been absolutely wasted. 

We must wish that it were in our power, when we 
make observations upon nature, or when we read the 
reflections of others, to arrange our thoughts so as to 
be ready when we v/ant to reason or invent. When 
cards are dealt to us, we can sort our hand according to 
the known probabilities of the game, and a new arrange- 
ment is easily made when we hear what is trumps. 

In collecting and sorting observations, Dr. Franklin 
particularly excelled ; therefore we may safely con- 
Crack or noise in exploding?. 7. Sitbsisling in water or ice. 8. 
Rending bodies it passes tlirough. . 9. Destroying animals. 10. 
Melting metals. 11. Firing inflanunable substances. 12. Sulphure- 
ous smell. The electric fluid is attracted by points. We do not 
know whether this property is in lightning. But since they agree 
in all the particulars wherein we can already compare them, is it 
not probable they agree likewise in this ? Let the experiment be 
made." — Dr. Franklin''s Letters, page 322. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 415 

tinue to take him for our example. Wherever he hap- 
pened to be, in a boat, in a mine, in a printer's shop, in 
a crowded city or in the country, in Europe or America, 
he displayed the same activity of observation. When 
any thing, however trifling-, struck him which he could 
not account for, he never rested till he had traced the 
effect to its cause. Thus, after having made one remark, 
he had fresh motive to collect facts, either to confirm 
or refute an hypothesis ; his observations tending con- 
sequently to some determinate purpose, they were ar- 
ranged in the moment they were made, in the most 
commodious manner, both for his memory and inven- 
tion ; they were arranged either according to their ob- 
vious analogies, or their relation to each other as cause 
and effect. He had two useful methods of judging of 
the value of his own ideas; he either considered 
how they could be immediately applied to practical 
improvements in the arts, or how they could lead 
to the solution of any of the great problems in science. 
Here we must again observe, that judgment saved the 
labour of memory, A person who sets about to collect 
facts at random, is little better than a magpie, who picks 
up and lays by any odd bits of money he can light upon, 
without knowing their use. 

Miscellaneous observations which are made by those 
who have no philosophy, may accidentally lead to some- 
thing useful ; but here we admire the good fortune, and 
not the genius, of the individuals who make such dis- 
coveries : these are prizes drawn from the lottery of 
science, which ought not to seduce us from the paths 
of sober industry. How long may an observation, for- 
tunately made, continue to be useless to mankind, 
merely because it has not been reasoned upon ! The 
trifling observation, that a straight stick appears bent in 
water, was made many hundred years before the reason 
of that appearance was discovered ! The invention of 
the telescope might have been made by any person who 
could have pursued this slight observation through all 
its consequences. 

Having now defined, or rather described, what we 
mean by a good memory, we may consider how the 
memory should be cultivated. In children, as well as 
in men, the strength of that habit, or perhaps of that 
power of the mind, which associates ideas together, 
varies considerably. It is probable thai this difference 



416 I'RACTICAL EDUCATION, 

may depend sometimes upon organization. A child 
who is born with any defect in his eyes, cannot possi- 
bly have the same pleasure in objects of sight which 
those enjoy who have strong eyes : ideas associated 
with these external objects are, therefore, not asso- 
ciated witli pleasure, and, consequently, they are not 
recollected with any sensations of pleasure. An inge- 
nious writer* supposes that all the difference of capa- 
city among men ultimately depends on their original 
power of feeling pleasure or pain, and their consequent 
different habits of attention. 

When there is cny defect in a child's organization, 
we must have recourse to physics, and not to meta- 
physics ; but even among children who are apparently 
in the full possession of idl their senses, we see very 
different degrees of vivacity : those who have most vi- 
vacity seldom take delight in repeating their ideas; 
they are more pleased with novelty than prone to habit. 
Those children who are deficient in vivacity are much 
disposed to the easy, indolent pleasure, of repetition ; it 
costs them less exertion to say or do the same thing 
over again, than to attempt any thing new ; they are 
uniformly good subjects to habit, because novelty has 
no charms to seduce their attention. 

The education of the memory in these two classes 
of children ought not to be the same. Those who are 
disposed to repetition should not be indulged in it, be- 
cause it will increase their indolence ; they should be 
excited by praise, by example, by sympathy, and by all 
the strongest motives tluit we can employ. Their in- 
terest in every thing around them must by all means be 
increased : when they show eagerness about any thing, 
no matter what it is, we may then exercise their 
memory upon that subject with some hopes of success. 
It is of importance that they should succeed in their 
first trials, otherwise they will be discouraged from re- 
peating their attempts, and they will distrust their own 
memory in future. The fear of not remembering will 
occupy, and agitate, and weaken their minds; they 
should, therefore, be animated by hope. If they fail, at 
all events let them not be reproached ; the mortification 
they naturally feel is sufficient ; nor should they be left 
to dwell upon their disappointment ; they should have 

* Helvetius, " Sur I'Esprit." 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 417 

a fresh and easier trial given to them, that they may re- 
cover their own self-complacency as expeditiously as 
possible. It may be said that there are children of 
such a sluggish temperament, that they feel no pleasure 
in success, and no mortification in perceiving their own 
mental deficiencies. There are few children of this 
description : scarcely any, perhaps, whose defects have 
not been increased by education. Exertion has been 
made so painful to them, that at length they have sunk 
into apathy, or submitted in despair to the eternal 
punishment of shame. 

The mistaken notion that the memory must be exer- 
cised only m books, has been often fatal to the pupils of 
literary people. We remember best those things which 
interest us most ; which are useful to us in conversa- 
tion ; in our daily business or amusement. So do chil- 
dren. On these things we should exercise their memory. 
Tell a boy who has lost his top, to remember at such a 
particular time to put you in mind of it, and if he does, 
that you will give him another, he will probably remem- 
ber your request after this better than you will your- 
self. Affectionate children will easily extend their recol- 
lective memories in the service of their friends and 
companions. " Put me in mind to give your friend 
what he asked for, and I will give it to him if )'ou re- 
member it at the right time." It will be best to manage 
these affViirs so that convenience, and not caprice, shall 
appear to be your motive for the requests. The time 
and place should be precisely fixed, and something 
should be chosen which is likely to recall your request 
at the appointed time. If you say, put me in mind of 
such a thing the moment the cloth is taken away after 
dinner ; or as soon as candles are brought into the 
room ; or when I go by such a shop in our walk this 
evening; here are things mentioned which will much 
assist the young remembrancer : the moment the cloth 
is taken away, or the candles come, he will recollect, 
from association, that something is to be done ; that he 
has something to do ; and presently he will make out 
what that something is. 

A good memory for business depends upon local, well- 
arranged associations. The man of business makes an 
artificial memory for himself out of the trivial occur- 
rences of the day, and the hours as they pass recall 
their respective occupations. Children can acquire 
S3 



418 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

these habits very early in tlieir education ; they are 
eager to give their companions an account of any thing 
they have seen or heard ; their tutors should become 
their companions, and encourage them by sympathy to 
address these narrations to them. Children who for- 
get their lessons in chronology and their pence tables, 
can relate with perfect accuracy any circumstances 
which have interested themselves. This shows that 
there is no deficiency in their capacity. Every one 
who has had any experience of the pleasure of talking, 
knows how intimately it is connected with the pleas- 
ure of being listened to. The auditors, consequently, 
possess supreme power over narrative childhood ; with- 
out using any artifice, by simply showing attention to 
well-arranged and well-recollected narratives, and ceas- 
ing to attend when the young orator's memory and story 
become confused, he will naturally be excited to arrange 
his ideas. The order of time is the first and easiest 
principle of association to help the memory. This, till 
young people acquire the ideas of cause and effect, will 
be their favourite mode of arrangement. Things that 
happen at the same time, things that are said, thoughts 
that have occurred at the same time, will recur to the 
mind together. We may observe, that ill-educated 
people continue through life to remember things by 
this single association ; and, consequently, there is a 
heterogeneous collection of ideas in their mind, which 
have no rational connexion with each other ; crowds 
which have accidentally met, and are forced to live for 
ever together. 

A vulgar witness, when he is examined about his 
memory of a particular fact, gives as a reason for his 
remembering it, a relation of a number of other cir- 
cumstances, which he tells you happened at the same 
time ; or he calls to witness any animate or inanimate 
objects which he happened to see at the same time. 
All these things are so joined with the principal fact in 
his mind, that his remembering them distinctly seems to 
him, and he expects will seem to others, demonstrative 
of the truth and accuracy of his principal assertion. 
When a lawyer tells him he has nothing to do with 
these ideas, he is immediately at a stand in his nar- 
rative; he can recollect nothing, he is sure of nothing; 
he has no reason to give for his belief, unless he may 
say that it was INlichaeluias-day when such a thing hap- 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 419 

pened, that he had a goose for dinner that day, or that 
he had a new wig. Those who have more enlarged 
minds seldom produce these strange reasons for re- 
membering facts. Indeed, no one can reason clearly, 
whose memory has these fooHsh habits ; the ill-matched 
ideas are inseparably joined, and hence they imagine 
there is some natural connexion between them. Hence 
arise those obstinate prejudices which no arguments 
can vanquish. 

To prevent children from arguing ill, we must, there- 
fore, take care, in exercising their memory, to discour- 
age them in this method of proving that they remember 
one thing by telling us a number of others which hap- 
pened at the same time ; rather let them be excited to 
bring their reasoning faculty into play in support of 
their memory. Suppose, for instance, that a child had 
mislaid his hat, and was trying to recollect where he 
had put it. He first may recollect, from the association 
of time, that he had the hat the last time he went out ; 
but when he wants to recollect when that time was, he 
had better go back, if he can, to his motive for going 
out : this one idea will bring a number of others in 
right order into his mind. He went out, suppose, to 
fetch his kite, which he was afraid would be wet by a 
shower of rain ; then the boy recollects that his hat 
must have been wet by the same rain, and that when 
he came in, instead of hanging it up in its usual place, 
it was put before the fire to be dried. What fire, is the 
next question, &c. 

Such an instance as this may appear very trivial ; but 
children whose minds are well managed about trifles, 
will retain good habits when they are to think about 
matters of consequence. By exercising the memory 
in this manner about things, instead of about books and 
lessons, we shall not disgust and tire our pupils, nor 
shall we give the false notion that all knowledge is 
acquired by reading. 

Long before children read fluently for their own 
amusement, they like to hear others read aloud to them, 
because they have then the entertainment without the 
labour. We may exercise their memory by asking for 
an account of what they have heard. But let them 
never be required to repeat in the words of the book, 
or even to preserve the same arrangement ; let them 
speak in words of their own, and arrange their ideas to 



420 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their own plan ; this will exercise at once their judg- 
ment, invention, and memory. 

*' Try if you can explain to me what I have just been 
explaining to you," a sensible tutor will frequently say 
to his pupils ; and he will suffer them to explain in a 
different manner from himself; he will only require 
them to remember what is essential to the explanation. 
In such repetitions as these the mind is active, there- 
fore it will strengthen and improve. 

Children are all, more or less, pleased with the per- 
ception of resemblances and of analogy. This pro- 
pensity assists us nmch in the cultivation of the memory ; 
but it must be managed with discretion, or it will injure 
the other powers of the understanding. There is, in 
some minds, a futile love of tracing analogies, which 
leads to superstition, to false reasoning, and false taste. 
The quick perception of resemblances is, in other 
minds, productive of wit, poetic genius, and scientific 
invention. The difference between these two classes 
depends upon this — the one has more judgment, and 
more the habit of using it, than the other. Children 
w^ho are pleased by trifling coincidences, by allusions 
and similitudes, should be taught with great care to 
reason : when once they perceive the pleasure of de- 
monstration, they will not be contented with the inac- 
curacy of common analogies. A tutor is often tempted 
to teach pupils, who are fond of allusions, by means of 
them, because he finds that they remember well what- 
ever suits their taste for resemblances. By following 
the real analogies between different arts and sciences, 
and making use of the knowledge children have on one 
subject to illustrate another, we may at once amuse 
their fancy, and cultivate their memory with advantage. 
Ideas laid up in this manner, will recur in the same 
order, and will be ready for farther use. When two 
ideas are remembered by their mutual connexion, surely 
it is best that they should both of them be substantially 
useful ; and not that one should attend merely to answer 
for the appearance of the other. 

As men readily remember those things which are 
every day useful to them in business, what relates to 
their amusements, or to their favourite tastes in arts, 
sciences, or literature ; so children fin^^ no difficulty in 
remembering every thing which mixes daily with their 
little pleasures. They value knowledge, which is use- 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 421 

fill and agreeable to them, as highly as we do ; but they 
consider only the present, and we take the future into 
our estimate. Children feel no interest in half the 
things that are committed, with the most solemn recom- 
mendations, to the care of their memory. It is in vain 
to tell them, " You must remember such a thing, because 
it will be useful to you when you grow^ up to be a man." 
The child feels like a child, and has no idea of what he 
may feel when he grows up to be a man. He tries to 
remember what' he is desired, perhaps, because he 
wishes to please his wiser friends ; but if the ideas are 
remote from his everyday business, if nothing recall 
them but voluntary exertion, and if he be obliged to 
abstract his little soul from every thing it holds dear, 
before he can recollect his lessons, they will have no 
hold upon his memory ; he will feel that recollection is 
too operose, and he will enjoy none of the " pleasures 
of memory." 

To induce children to exercise their memory, we 
must put them in situations where they may be imme- 
diately rewarded for their exertion. We must create 
an interest in their minds — nothing uninteresting is 
long remembered. In a large and literary family, it 
will not be difficult to invent occupations for children 
which may exercise all their faculties. Even the con- 
versation of such a family will create in their minds a 
desire for knowledge ; what they hear, M-ill recall to 
their memory what they read ; and if they are encour- 
aged to take a reasonable share in conversation, they 
will acquire the habit of listening to every thing that 
others say. By permitting children to talk freely of 
what they read, we are more likely to improve their 
memory for books, than by exacting from them formal 
repetitions of lessons. 

Dr. Johnson, who is said to have had an uncommonly 
good memory, tells us that when he was a boy, he used, 
after he had acquired any fresh knowledge from his 
books, to run and tell it to an old woman, of whom he 
was very fond. This exercise was so agreeable to him, 
that it imprinted what he read upon his memory. 

La Gaucherie, one of the preceptors of Henry IV., 
having found that he had to do with a young prince of 
an injpatient mind and active genius, little suited to 
sedentary studies, instead of compelling his pupil to 
read, taught him by means of conversation : anecdotes. 



422 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

of heroes, and the wise sayings of ancient philosophers, 
were thus imprinted upon the mind of this prince. It 
is said that Henry IV. applied, in his subsequent hfe, 
all the knowledge he had acquired in this manner, 
so happily, that learned men were surprised at his 
memory.* 

By these observations we by no means would insin- 
uate, that application to books is unnecessary. We are 
sensible that accurate knowledge upon any subject can- 
not be acquired b}^ superficial conversation ; that it can 
be obtained only by patient application. But we mean 
to point out, that an early taste for literature may be 
excited in children by conversation ; and that their 
memory should be first cultivated in the manner which 
will give them the least pain. When there is motive 
for application, and when habits of industry have been 
gradually acquired, we may securely trust that our 
pupils will complete their own education. Nor should 
we have reason to fear, that those who have a good 
memory for all other things, should not be able to re- 
tain all that is worth remembering in books. Children 
should never be praised for merely remembering ex- 
actly what they read ; they should be praised for select- 
ing with good sense what is best worth their attention, 
and for applying what they remember to useful pur- 
poses. 

We have observed how much the habit of inventing 
increases the wish for knowledge, and promotes the in- 
terest men take in a number of ideas which are indif- 
ferent to uncultivated and indolent people. It is the 
same with children. Children who invent, exercise 
their memory with pleasure, from the immediate sense 
oflitility and success. A piece of knowledge which 
they lay by in their minds, with the hopes of making use 
of it in some future invention, they have more motives 
for remembering, than what they merely learn by rote, 
because they are commanded to do so by the voice of 
authority. 

(June 19th, 1796.) S , a boy of nine years old, of 

good abilities, was translating Ovid's description of 
envy. When he came to the Latin word svffusa, he pro- 
nounced it as if it had been spelled with a single /and a 
double 5, sufussa ; he made the same mistake several 

* See Preface to L' Esprit des Romains consid6r4. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 423 

times : at last his father, to try whether it would make 
him remember the right pronunciation, desired him to 
repeat suffusa forty times. The boy did so. About 
three hours afterward, the boy was asked whether he 
recollected the word which he had repeated forty times. 
No, he said, he did not ; but he remembered that it 
meant diffused. His father recalled the word to his 
mind, by asking- him what letter it was that he had 
sounded as if it had been a double letter ; he said s. 
And what double letter did you sound as if it had been 
single ? /, said the boy. Then, said his father, you have 
found out that it was a word in which there were a 
double ff and a single 5, and that it is the Latin for dif- 
fused. Oh, suffusa, said the boy. 

This boy, who had such difficulty in learning a single 
Latin word by repeating it forty times, showed in other 
instances that he was by no means deficient in recol- 
lective memory. On the contrary, though he read very 
little, and seldom learned any thing by rote, he applied 
happily any thing that he read or heard in conversation. 

(March 31st, 1796.) His father told him that he had 
this morning seen a large horn at a gentleman's in the 
neighbourhood. It was found thirty spades' depth below 
the surface of the earth, in a bog. With the horn was 
found a carpet, and wrapped up in the carpet a lump of 
tallow. " Now," said his father, " how could that lump 
of tallow come there "? Or was it tallow, do you think ] 
Or what could it be V 

H (a boy of fourteen, brother to S ) said, he 

thought it might have been buried by some robbers, 
after they had committed some robbery ; he thought 
the lump was tallow. 

S said, " Perhaps some dead body might have 

been wrapped up in the carpet and buried ; and the dead 
body might have turned into tallow."* 

" How came you," said his father, " to think of a dead 
body's turning into tallow 1" 

" You told me," said the boy, " you read to me, I 
mean, an account of some dead bodies that had been 
buried a great many years, which had turned into 
tallow." 

" Spermaceti," you mean ? " Yes." 

S had heard the account he alluded to above two 

* See the account in the Monthly Review. 



424 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

months before this time. No one in company recol- 
lected it except himself, though several had heard it. 

Among the few things which S had learned by- 
heart, was the Hymn to Adversity. A very slight cir- 
cumstance may show that he did not get this poem 
merely as a tiresome lesson, as children sonietimes 
learn by rote what they do not understand, and which 
they never recollect except in the arduous moments of 
formal repetition. 

A few days after S had learned the Hymn to Ad- 
versity, he happened to hear his sister say to a lady, " I 
observed you pitied me for having had a whitlow on my 
finger more than anybody else did, because you have 

had one yourself." S 's father asked him why he 

smiled. " Because," said S , " I was thinking of the 

song* the hymn to Adversity : 

" ' And from her own, she learned to melt at others' wo.' " 

A recollective memory of books appears early in chil- 
dren who are not overwhelmed with them; if the inv 
pressions made upon their minds be distinct, they will 
recur with pleasure to the memory when similar ideas 
are presented. 

.luly, 1796. S heard his father read Sir Brook 

Boothby's excellent epitaph upon Algernon Sidney ; the 
following lines pleased the boy particularly : 

" Approach, contemplate this immortal name, 
Swear on this shrme to emulate his lame ; 
To dare, like him, e'en to thy latest breath, 
Contenming chams, and poverty, and death." 

S 's father asked him why he liked these lines, 

and whether they put him in mind of any thing that he 

had heard before. S said, " It puts me in mind of 

Hamilcar's making his son Haimibal swear to hate the 
Romans and love his countrymen eternally. But I 
like this much better. I think it was exceedingly fool- 
ish and wrong of Hamilcar to make his son swear 
always to hate the Romans." 

Latin lessons are usually so very disagreeable to boys, 
that they seldom are pleased with any allusions to them ; 
but by good management in a tutor, even these lessons 
may be associated with agreeable ideas. Boys should 

* He had tried to sing it to the tune of " Plope. thou nurse of 
young desire." 



MEMORY AND INVENTIOK. 425 

be encouraged to talk and think about what ney learn 
in Latin, as well as what they read in English ; they 
should be allowed to judge of the characters described 
in ancient authors, to compare them with our present 
ideas of excellence, and thus to make some use of their 
learning. It will then be not merely engraved upon 
their memory in the form of lessons, it will be mingled 
with their notions of life and manners ; it will occur to 
them when they converse and when they act ; they 
will possess the admired talent for classical allusion, as 
well as all the solid advantages of an unprejudiced judg- 
ment. It is not enough that gentlemen should be mas- 
ters of the learned languages, they must know how to 
produce their knowledge without pedantry or affecta- 
tion. The memory may in vain be stored with classi- 
cal precedents, unless these can be brought into use in 
speaking or writing, without the parade of dull citation 
or formal introduction. " Sir," said Dr. Johnson, to 
some prosing tormentor, " I would rather a man would 
knock me down than begin to talk to me of the Punic 
Wars." A public speaker who rises in the House of 
Commons with pedantry prepense to quote Latin or 
Greek, is coughed or laughed down; but the beautiful 
unpremeditated classical allusions of Burke or Sheridan, 
sometimes conveyed in a single word, seize the imagi- 
nation irresistibly. 

Since we perceive that memory is chiefly useful as it 
furnishes materials for invention, and that invention can 
greatly abridge the mere labour of accunmlation, we 
must examine how the inventive faculty can be properly 
exercised. The vague precept, Cultivate the memory 
and invention of young people at the same time, will not 
inform parents how this is to be accomplished ; we 
trust, therefore, that we may be permitted, contrary to 
the custom of didactic writers, to illustrate a general 
precept by a few examples ; and we take these exam- 
ples from real life, because we apprehend that fictions, 
however ingenious, will never advance the science of 
education so much as simple experiments. 

No elaborate theory of invention shall here alarm 
parents. It is a mistake to suppose that the inventive 
faculty can be employed only on important subjects ; it 
can be exercised in the most trifling circumstances of 
domestic life. S.'?arcely any family can be so unfortu- 
nately situated, that they may not employ the ingenuity 



426 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

of their children without violent exertion, or any grand 
apparatus. Let us only make use of the circumstances 
which happen every hour. Children are interested in 
every thing that is going forward. Building, or plant- 
ing, or conversation, or reading ; they attend to every 
thing, and from every thing might they with a little as- 
sistance obtain instruction. Let their useful curiosity 
be encouraged; let them make a part of the general 
society of the family, instead of being treated as if they 
had neither senses nor understanding. When any thing 
is to be done, let them be asked to invent the best way 
of doing it. When they see that their invention be- 
comes immediately useful, they will take pleasure in 
exerting themselves. 

June 4th, 1796. A lady who had been ruling pencil 
lines for a considerable time, complained of its being a 
tiresome operation ; and she wished that a quick and 
easy way of doing it could be invented. Somebody 
present said he had seen pens for ruling music books, 
which ruled four lines at a time ; and it was asked 
whether a leaden rake could not be made to rule a sheet 
of paper at once. 

Mr. said he thought such a pencil would not rule 

well ; and he called to S (the same boy we men- 
tioned before), and asked him if he could invent any 

method of doing the business better. S took about 

a quarter of an hour to consider ; and he then described 
a little machine for ruling a sheet of paper at a single 
stroke, which his father caused to be made for him. It 
succeeded well, and this success was the best reward he 
could have. 

Another day Mr. observed, that the maid whose 

business it was to empty a bucket of ashes into an ash- 
hole, never could be persuaded to do it, because the 
ashes were blown against her face by the wind ; and he 
determined to invent a method which should make it 
convenient to her to do as she was desired. The maid 
usually threw the ashes into a heap on the sheltered 
side of a wall ; the thing to be done was, to make 
her put the bucket through a hole in this wall, and empty 
the ashes on the other side. This problem was given 
to all the children and grown up persons in the family. 
One of the children invented the shelf, which, they said, 
should be like part of the vane of a winnowing machine 
which they had lately seen; the manner of placing this 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 427 

vane, another of the children suggested: both these 
ideas, joined together, produced the contrivance that 
w^as wanted. 

A little model was made in wood of this bucket, which 
was a pretty toy. The thing itself was executed, and 
was found useful. 

June 8th, 1796. Mr. was balancing a pair of 

scales very exactly, in which he was going to weigh 
some opium : this led to a conversation upon scales and 
weighing. Some one said that the dealers in diamonds 
must have very exact scales, as the difference of a grain 

makes such a great difference in their value. S 

was very attentive to this conversation. M told 

him, that jewellers always, if they can, buy diamonds 
when the air is light, and sell them when it is heavy. 

S did not understand the reason of this, till his 

father explained to him the general principles of hydro- 
statics, and showed him a few experiments with bodies 
of different specific gravity : these experiments were 
distinctly understood by everybody present. The boy 
then observed, that it was not fair of the jewellers to 
buy and sell in this manner ; they should not, said he, 
use these weights. Diamonds should be the weights. 
Diamonds should be weighed against diamonds. 

November, 1795. One day after dinner, the candles 
had been left for some time without being snuffed ; and 

Mr. said he wished candles could be made which 

would not require snuffing. 

Mrs. ******** thought of cutting the wick into several 
pieces before it was put into the candle, that so, when it 
burned down to the divisions, the wick might fall off. 

M thought that the wick might be tied tight round 

at intervals, before it was put into the candle ; that when 
it burned down to the places where it was tied, it would 

snap off: but Mr. objected, that the candle would 

most likely go out when it had burned down to her knots. 
It was then proposed to send a stream of oxygen 

through the candle, instead of a wick. M asked if 

some substance might not be used for wicks which 

should burn into powder and fly of!*, or sublime. Mr. 

smiled at this, and said, " Some substance; some kind of 
air ; some chymical mixture .'" A person ignorant of 
chymistry always talks of it as an ignorant person in 
mechanics always says, " Oh, you can do it somehow 
with a spring.'''^ 



428 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

As the company could not immediately discover any 
way of making candles which should not require to be 
snuffed, they proceeded to invent ways of putting out a 
candle at a certain time without hands. The younger 
part of the company had hopes of solving this problem, 
and every eye was attentively fixed upon the candle. 

" How would you put it out, S V said Mr. . 

S said, that if a weight a very little lighter than the 

extinguisher were tied to a siring, and if the string were 
put over a pulley, and if the extinguisher were tied to 
the other end of the siring, and the candle put exactly 
under the extinguisher; the extinguisher would move 
very, very gently down, and at last put out the candle. 

Mr. observed, that while it was putting out the 

candle there would be a disagreeable smell, because the 
extinguisher would be a considerable time moving very^ 
very gently down, over the candle, after the candle had 
begun to go out. 

C (a girl of twelve years old) spoke next. " I 

would tie an extinguisher to one end of a thread. I 
would put this string through a pulley fastened to the 
ceiling ; the other end of this string should be fastened 
to the middle of another thread, which should be strained 
between two posts set upright on each side of the candle, 
so that the latter string might lean against the candle at 
any distance you want below the flame. When the 
candle burns down to this siring, it will burn it in two, 
and the extinguisher will drop upon the candle." 

This is the exact description of the weaver's alarm, 
mentioned in tlie Philosophical Transactions, which 
C had never seen or heard of. 

Mr. now showed us the patent extinguisher, 

which was much approved by all the rival inventors. 

It is very useful to give children problems that have 
already been solved, because they can immediately com- 
pare their own imperfect ideas with successful inven- 
tions which have actually been brought into real use. 
We know beforehand what ideas are necessary to com- 
plete the invention, and whether the pupil has all the 
necessary knowledge. Though by the courtesy of poe- 
try, a creative power is ascribed to inventive genius, yet 
we must be convinced that no genius can invent without 
materials. Nothing can come of nothing. Invention 
is nothing more than the new combination of mate- 
rials. We must judge in general of the ease or diffi- 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 429 

culty of any invention, either by the number of ideas 
necessary to be combined, or by the dissimilarity or 
analogy of those ideas. In giving any problem to chil- 
dren, we should not only consider whether they know 
all that is necessary upon the subject, but also, whether 
that knowledge is sufficiently familiar to their minds ; 
whether circumstances are likely to recall it; and whether 
they have a perfectly clear idea of the thing to be done. 
By considering all these particulars, we may pretty 
nearly proportion our questions to the capacity of the 
pupil ; and we may lead his mind on, step by step, from 
obvious to intricate inventions. 

July 30th, 1796. L , who had just returned from 

Edinburgh, and had taken down, in two large volumes, 
Dr. Black's Lectures, used to read to us part of them, 
for about a quarter of an hour, every morning after 
breakfast. He was frequently interrupted (which inter- 
ruptions he bore with heroic patience) by Mr. 's ex- 
planations and comments. When he came to the ex- 
pansive power of steam, and to the description of the 
different steam-engines which have been invented, 
Mr. stopped to ask B , C , and S , to de- 
scribe the steam-engine in their own words. They all 
described it in such a manner as to show that they 
clearly understood the principle of the machine. Only 
the general principle had been explained to them. 

L , after having read the description of Savary's and 

Newcomen's steam-engines, was beginning to read the 

description of that invented by Mr. Watt ; but Mr. 

stopped him, that he might try whether any person 

present could invent it. Mr. E thus stated the 

difficulty : '* In the old steam-engine, cold water, you 
know, is thrown into the cylinder to condense the steam ; 
but in condensing the steam, the cold water at the same 
time cools the cylinder. Now the cylinder must be 
heated again before it can be filled with steam ; for till 
it is heated, it will condense the steam. There is, con- 
sequently, a great waste of heat and fuel in the great 
cylinder. How can you condense the steam without cool- 
ing the cylinder V 

S . " Let down a cold tin tube into the cylinder 

when you want to condense the steam, and draw it up 
again as soon as the steam is condensed ; or, if you 
could, put a cylinder of ice up the great tube." 

Some of the company next asked if a horizontal 



430 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

plate of cold metal, made to slide up the inside of tho 
cylinder, would condense the steam. The edges of the 
plate only would touch the cylinder ; the surface of the 
phite might condense the steam, 

" But," said Mr. , " how can you introduce and 

withdraw if?" 

C (a girl of 12) then said, " I would put a cold 

vessel to condense the steam at the top of the cylinder." 

Mr. . " So as to touch the cylinder, do you mean 1" 

C . " No, not so as to touch the cylinder, but at 

some distance from it." 

Mr. . "Then the cold air would rush into the 

cylinder while the steam was passing from the cylinder 
to your condenser." 

C . " But I would cover in the cold vessel, and I 

would cover in the passage to it." 

M . " I have the pleasure of informing you, that 

you have invented part of the great Mr. Watt's improve- 
ment on the steam-engine. You see how it facilitates 
invention, to begin by stating the difficulty clearly to 
the mind. This is what every practical inventor does 
vj^hen he invents in mechanics." 

L (smiling.) " And what I always do in inventing 

a mathematical demonstration." 

To the good-natured reader we need offer no apology; 
to the illnatured we dare attempt none, for introducing 
these detailed views of the first attempts of young in- 
vention. They are not exhibited as models, either to do 
honour to the tutor or his pupils ; but simply to show 
how the mind may be led from tlie easiest steps, to 
what are supposed to be difficult, in education. By im- 
agining ourselves to be in the same situation with chil- 
dren, we may guess what things are difficult to them ; 
and if we can recollect the course of our own minds in 
acquiring knowledge or in inventing, we may, by re- 
tracing the same steps, instruct others. The order that 
is frequently followed by authors, in the division and 
subdivision of their elementary treatises, is not always 
the best for those who are to learn. Such authors are 
usually more intent upon proving to the learned that 
they understand their subject, than upon communicating 
their knowledge to the ignorant. Parents and tutors 
must, therefore, supply familiar oral instruction, and 
those simple, but essential explanations, which books 
disdain or neglect to give. And there is this advantage 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 431 

in ail instruction given in conversation, that it can be 
made interesting by a thousand little circumstances 
which are below the dignity of didactic writers. Grad- 
ually we may proceed from simple to more complicated 
contrivances. The invention of experiments to deter- 
mine a theory, or to ascertain the truth of an asser- 
tion, must be particularly useful to the understanding. 
Any person who has attended to experiments in chym- 
istry and natural pliilosophy, must know that invention 
can be as fully and elegantly displayed upon these sub- 
jects, as upon any in the fine arts or literature. There 
is one great advantage in scientific invention ; it is not 
dependant upon capricious taste for its reward. The 
beauty and elegance of a poem may be disputed by a 
thousand amateurs ; there can be but one opinion about 
the truth of a discovery in science. 

Independent of all ambition, there is considerable 
pleasure in the pursuit of experimental knowledge. 
Children especially, before they are yet fools to fame, 
enjoy this substantial pleasure. Nor are we to suppose 
that children have not capacities for such pursuits ; they 
are peculiarly suited to their capacity. They love to 
see experiments tried, and to try them. They show 
this disposition not only wherever they are encouraged, 
but wherever they are permitted to show it ; and if we 
compare their method of reasoning with the reasonings 
of the learned, we shall sometimes be surprised. They 
have no prejudices, therefore they have tlie complete 
use of all their senses ; they have few ideas, but those 
few are distinct; they can be analyzed and compared 
with ease : children, therefore, judge and invent better, 
in proportion to their knowledge, than most grown up 
people. 

Dr. Hooke observes, that a sensible man, in solving 
any pjiilosophical problem, should always lean to that 
side which is opposite to his favourite taste. A chymist 
is disposed to account for every thing by chymical 
means ; a geometrician is inclined to solve every prob- 
lem geometrically ; and a mechanic accounts for all the 
phenomena of nature by the laws of mechanism. This 
undue bias upon the minds of ingenious people, has fre- 
quently rendered their talents less useful to mankind. 
It is the duty of those who educate ingenious children, 
to guard against this species of scientific insanity. 

There are prejudices of another description, which are 



432 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

fatal to inventive genius; some of these are usually 
found to attend ignorance, and others sometimes adhere 
to the learned. Ignorant people, if they possess any 
degree of invention, are so confident in their own abili- 
ties, that they v^^ill not take the pains to inquire what 
others have thought or done ; they disdain all general 
principles, and will rather scramble through some by- 
path of their own striking out, than condescend to be 
shown the best road by the most enlightened guide. 
For this reason, self-taught geniuses, as they are called, 
seldom go beyond a certain point in their own educa- 
tion, and the praise we bestow upon their ingenuity is 
always accompanied with expressions of regret; "It is 
a pity that such a genius had not the advantages of a 
good education." 

The learned, on the contrary, who have been bred up 
in reverence for established opinions, and who have felt 
in many instances the advantage of general principles, 
are apt to adhere too pertinaciously to their theories, 
and hence they neglect or despise new observations. 
How long did the maxim that nature abhors a vacuum, 
content the learned ! And how many discoveries were 
retarded by this single false principle I For a great 
number of years it was affirmed and believed, that all 
objects were seen by the intervention of visual rays, 
proceeding from the eye, much in the same manner as 
we feel any object at a distance from us by the help of a 
stick.* While this absurd analogy satisfied the mind, 
no discoveries were made in vision — none were at- 
tempted. A prepossession often misleads the industry 
of active genius. Dr. Hooke, in spite of the ridicule 
which he met with, was firm in his belief that mankind 
would discover some method of sailing in the air. Bal- 
loons have justified his prediction; but all his own in- 
dustry in trying experiments upon flying was wasted, 
because he persisted in following a false analogy to the 
wings of birds. He made wings of various sorts ; till 
he took it for granted that he must learn to fly by me- 
chanical means : had he applied to chymistry, he might 
have succeeded. It is curious to observe how nearly 
he once touched upon the discovery, and yet, misled by 
his prepossessions, quitted his hold. He observed 
that the air-cellsf of fishes are filled with air, which 

*• Priestley on Vision, vol. i. page 23. 
\ See Hooke's Posthumous Works. 



MEMORY AND INVENTION. 433 

buoys them up in the water ; and he supposes that this 
air is lighter than co7nmon air. Had he pursued this 
idea, he might have invented balloons ; but he returned 
with fatal perseverance to his old theory of wings. From 
such facts we may learn the power and danger of preju- 
dice in the most ingenious minds ; and we shall be careful 
to preserve our pupils early from its blind dominion. 

The best preservation against the presumption to 
which ignorance is liable, and the best preservative 
against the self-sufficiency to which the learned are sub- 
ject, is the habit of varying our studies and occupations. 
Those who have a general view of the whole map of 
human knowledge, perceive how many unexplored re- 
gions are yet to be cultivated by future industry ; nor 
will they implicitly submit to the reports of ignorant 
voyagers. No imaginary pillars of Hercules will bound 
their enterprises. There is no presumption in believing 
that much more is possible to science than ever hu- 
man ingenuity has executed ; therefore young people 
should not be ridiculed for that sanguine temper which 
excites to great inventions. They should be ridiculed 
only v/hen they imagine that they possess the means 
of doing things to which they are unequal. The fear 
of this deserved ridicule will stimulate ihem to acquire 
knowledge, and \vill induce them to estimate cautiously 
their own powers before they hazard their reputation. 
We need not fear that this caution should repress their 
activity of mind; ambition will secure their perseve- 
rance, if they are taught that every acquisition is within 
the reach of unremitting industry. This is not an opin- 
ion to be artfully inculcated to serve a particular pur- 
pose, but it is an opinion drawn from experience ; an 
opinion which men of the liighest abilities and integrity, 
of talents and habits the most dissimilar, have confirmed 
by their united testimony. Helvetius maintained that 
no great man ever formed a great design which he was 
not also capable of executing. 

Even where great perseverance is exercised, the 
choice of the subjects on which the inventive powers 
are employed determines, in a great measure, their value : 
therefore, in the education of ingenious children, we 
should gradually turn their attention from curious trifles 
to important objects. Boverick,* who made chains " to 

* Hooke's ^rycrographia, p. 62. 
T 



43i PRACTICAL EPUCATIOV. 

yoke a flea," must have possessed exquisite patience: 
besides his chain of two hundred links, with its padlock 
a!id key, ;dl weighing-' together less than the third part 
of a grain, tliis indefatigable minute artificer was the ma- 
ker of a landau, which opened and shut by springs: this 
equipage, with six horses harnessed to it, a coachman 
sitting on the box, w^ith a dog between his legs, four in- 
side and two outside passengers, besides a postillion 
riding one of the fore-horses, was drawn with all the 
ease and safety imaginable by a well-irained Ilea! The 
inventor and executor of this puerile machine bestowed 
on it, probably, as much time as would have sufTiced to 
pnxluce Watt's fire-engine, or Montgolfier's balloon. It 
did not, perhaps, cost the Marquis of Worcester more 
exertion to draw out his celebrated century of inven- 
tions ; it did not, perhaps, cost Newton more to write 
those queries which Maclaurin said he could never read 
without feeling his hair stand an end with admiration. 

Brebeuf, a French wit, wrote a hundred and fifty 
epigrams upon a painted lady ; a brother wit, fired with 
emulation, wrote upon the same subject three hundred 
more, making, in all, four hundred and fifly epigrams, 
each with appropriate turns of its ov»n. Probably Pope 
and Parnell did not rack their invention so much, or ex- 
ercise more industry in completing "The Rape of the 
Lock," and "The Rise of Woman." These will live 
for ever ; who will read the four hundred and fifly epi- 
grams 1 

The most cfTectual methods to discourage in young 
people the taste for frivolous ingenuity will be, never to 
admire these "laborious notiiings ;" to compare them, 
with useful and elegant inventions, and to show that 
vain curiosities can be but the wonder and amusement 
of a moment. Children who begin with trilling inven- 
tions, may be led from these to general principles; and 
with their knowledge their anibition will necessarily in- 
crease. It cannot lie expected that Ihe most enlarged 
plan of education could early give an intimate acquaint- 
ance with all the sciences; but with their leading prin- 
ciples, their general history, their present stale, and 
their immediate desiderata,* young people may, and 
ought to be, made acquainted. Their own industry will 
afterward collect more precise inforn»afion, and they 

* Pricstlry bus ably givrn tlie de,siderata of clectricit •, vision, &c. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 436 

will never waste their time in vain studies and fruitless 
inventions. Even if the cultivation of the memory 
were our grand object, this plan of education will suc- 
ceed. When the Abbo de; Longuerue, whose prodigious 
memory we have formerly mentioned, was asked by the 
Marquis d'Argenson, how he managed to arrange and 
retain in his head every thing that entered it, and to 
recollect every thing when wanted 1 — the abbe an- 
swered — 

" Sir, the elements of every science must be learned 
while we are very young ; the ^rt>t principles of every 
language — the a b c, as I may say, of every kind of 
knowledge — this is not difficult in youth, especially as 
it is not necessary to penetrate far ; simple notions are 
sufficient ; when once these are acquired, every thing 
we read afterward finds its proper place." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

h 

TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 

Figurative language seems to have confounded the 
ideas of most writers upon metaphysics. Imagination, 
Memory, and Reason, have been long introduced to our 
acquaintance as allegorical personages, and we have in- 
sensibly learned to consider them as real beings. The 
"viewless regions" of the soul have been portioned out 
among these ideal sovereigns ; but disputes have, never- 
theless, sometimes arisen concerning the boundaries of 
intellectual provinces. Among the disputed territories, 
those of Imagination have been most frequently the seat 
of war; her empire has been subject to continual revo- 
lution; her dominions have been, by potent invaders, 
divided and subdivided. Fancy,* Memory,! Ideal pres- 
ence,! and Conception,'^ have shared her spoils. 

By poets, imagination has been addressed as the great 
parent of genius — as the arbiter, if not the creator, of 
our pleasures ; by philosophers her name has been some- 

* Wharton's Ode to Fancy. f Gerard. 

t Lord Karnes. <) Professor Stewaxt, 

T2 



436 PRACTICAL EDCCATION. 

times pronounced with horror ; to her fatal delusions 
they have ascribed all the crimes and miseries of man- 
kind. Yet, even philosophers have not always agreed 
in their opinions: while some have treated Imagination 
with contempt, as the irreconcilable enemy of Reason, 
by others* she has been considered with more respect, 
as Reason's inseparable friend ; as the friend who col- 
lects and prepares all the arguments upon which Reason 
decides; as the injured, misrepresented power, who is 
often forced to supply her adversaries with eloquence, 
who is often called upon to preside at her own trial, and 
to pronounce her own condemnation. 

Imagination is ''the power,'" we are told, oC forming 
images:'''' the word image, however, does not, strictly 
speaking, express any thing more than a representation 
of an object of sight ; but the power of imagination ex- 
tends to objects of all the senses. 

" I hear a voice you cannot hear, 
Wliich says 1 must not stay : 
I see a hand you cannot see, 
Which beckons me away." 

Imagination hears the voice, as well as sees the hand ; 
€)y an easy license of metaphor, what was originally 
used to express the operation of our senses, is extended 
to them all. We do not precisely say that imagination 
forms images of past sounds, or tastes, or smells : but 
we say that she forms ideas of them : and ideas, we are 
told, are mental images. It has been suggested by Dr. 
Darwin, that all these analogies between images and 
thoughts have, probably, originated in our observing the 
little pictures painted on the retina of the eye. 

It is difficult, certainly, if not impossible, to speak of 
the invisible operations of the mind or body, without 
expressing ourselves in metaphor of some kind or other ; 
and we are easily misled by allusions to sensible objects, 
because when we comprehend the allusion, we flatter 
ourselves that we understand the theory which it is de- 
signed to illustrate. Whether we call ideas images in 
popular language, or vibrations, according to Dr. Hart- 
ley's system, or modes of sensation, with Condillac, or 
motions of the sensorium, in the language of Dr. Dar- 
win, may seem a matter of indifference. But even the 

* See an excellent essay of Mr. Barnes's on Imagination Man- 
djester Society, vol. i. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 437 

choice of names is not a matter of indifference to those 
who wish to argue accurately ; when they are obliged 
to describe their feelings or thoughts by metaphoric ex- 
pressions, they will prefer the simplest; those with 
which the fewest extraneous associations are coiniected. 
Words which call up a variety of heterogeneous ideas 
to our minds, are unfit for the purposes of sober reason- 
ing ; our attention is distracted by them, and we cannot 
restrain it to the accurate comparison of simple propor- 
tions. We yield to pleasing revery, instead of exerting 
painful voluntary attention. Hence it is probably useful 
in our attempts to reason, especially upon metaphysical 
subjects, to change from time to time our nomenclature, 
and to substituteterms wiiich have no relation to our 
old associations, and which do not affect the prejudices 
of our education. We are obliged to define with some 
degree of accuracy the sense of new terms, and we are 
thus led to compare our old notions with more severity. 
Our superstitious reverence for mere symbols is also 
dissipated; symbols are apt to impose even upon those 
who acknowledge their vanity, and who profess to con- 
sider tbem merely as objects of vulgar worship. 

When we call a class of our ideas images and pictures, 
a tribe of associations with painting comes into our 
mind, and we argue about Imagination as if she were 
actually a painter, who has colours at her command, 
and who, upon some invisible canvass in the soul, por- 
trays the likeness of all earthly and celestial objects. 
When we continue to pursue the same metaphor, in 
speaking of the moral influence of Imagination, we say- 
that her colouring deceives us, that her pictures are flat- 
tering and false, that she draws objects out of propor- 
tion, &c. To what do all these metaphors lead ? We 
make no new discoveries by talking in this maniiCr ; we 
do not learn the cause or the cure of any of the diseases 
of the mind ; we only persuade ourselves that we know 
something, when we are really ignorant. 

We have sedulously avoided entering into any meta- 
physical disquisitions ; but we have examined with care 
the systems of theoretic writers, that we may be able 
to avail ourselves of such of their observations as can 
be reduced to practice in education. With respect tp 
the arts, imagination may be considered practically in 
two points of view ; as it relates to our taste, and as it 
relates to our talents for the arts. Without being a 



438 I'RACTICAL EDUCATIOTJ. 

poet or an orator, a man may have a sufficient degree 
of imagination to receive pleasure from the talents of 
others; he maybe a critical judge of the respective 
merits of orators, poets, and artists. This sensibility 
to the pleasures of the imagination, when judiciously 
managed, adds much to tlie happiness of life, and it must 
be peculiarly advantageous to those who are precluded 
by their station in society from the necessity of manual 
labour. Mental exercise and mental amusements, are 
essential to persons in the higher ranks of life, who 
would escape from the fever of dissipation or from the 
lethargy of ennui. The mere physical advantages which 
wealth can procure, are reducible to the short sum of 
"mea/, fire, and clol/ies.'" A nobleman of the highest 
birth, and with the longest line of ancestry, inherits no 
intuitive taste, nor can he purchase it from the artist, 
the painter, or the poet ; the possession of the whole 
Pinelli library could not infuse the slightest portion of 
literature. Education can alone give the full power to 
enjoy the real advantages of fortune. To educate the 
taste and the imagination, it is not necessary to surround 
the heir of an opulent family with masters and connois- 
seurs. Let him never hear the jargon of amateurs, let 
him learn the art " not to admire." But in his earliest 
childhood cultivate his senses with care, that he may 
be able to see and hear, to feel and understand, for him- 
self. Visible images he will rapidly collect in his mem- 
ory ; but thcs2 must be selected, and his first associa- 
tions must not be trusted to accident. Encourage him 
to observe with attention all the works of nature, but 
show him only the best imitations of art; the first ob- 
jects that he contemplates with delight, will remain 
long associated with pleasure in his imagination ; you 
must, therefore, be careful that these early associations 
accord with the decisions of those who have determined 
the national standard of taste. In many instances taste 
is governed by arbitrary and variable laws ; the fashions 
of dress, of decoration, of manner, change from day to 
day; therefore no exclusive prejudices should confine 
your pupil's understanding. Let him know, as far as 
we know them, the gene'^ral principles which govern 
mankind in their admiration of the sublime and beauti- 
ful ; but at the same time give him that enlarged toler- 
ation of mind, which comprehends the possibility of a 
taste different from our own. Show him, and you need 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 439 

not go farther than the Indian screen, or the Chinese 
paper in your drawing-room, for the ilhistration, that 
the subHme and beautiful vary at Pekin, at London, on 
Westminster bridge, and on the banks of the Ganges. 
Let your young pupil look over a collection of gems or 
of ancient medals ; it is necessary that his eye should 
be early accustomed to Grecian beauty, and to all the 
classic forms of grace. But do not suffer him to become 
a bigot, though he may be an enthusiast in his admira- 
tion of the antique. Short lessons upon this subject 
may be conveyed in a few words. If a child sees you 
look at the bottom of a print for the name of the artist 
before you will venture to pronounce upon its merits, 
he will follow your example, and he will judge by the 
authority of others, and not by his own taste. If he 
hears you ask, Who wrote this poem ? Who built this 
palace? Is this a genuine antique? he will ask the 
same questions before he ventures to be pleased. If he 
hears you pronounce with emphasis that such a thing 
comes from Italy, and therefore must be in good taste, 
he will adopt the same compendious method of decision 
upon the first convenient occasion. 

He will not trouble himself to examine why utility 
pleases, nor will he analyze his taste, or discover v.'hy 
one proportion or one design pleases him better than 
another; he will, if by example you teach him preju- 
dice, content hinjself with repeating the words, propor- 
tion, antique, picturesque, &c., without annexing to 
them any precise ideas. 

Parents who have not turned their attention to met- 
aphysics, may, perhaps, apprehend that they have some- 
thing very abstruse or intricate to learn, before they can 
instruct their pupils in the principles of taste: but these 
prip.ciples are simple, and two or three entertaining 
books, of no very alarming size, comprise all that haat 
yet been ascertained upon this subject. Vernet's Th6- 
orie des Sentimens Atfrcables; Hogarth's Analysis of 
lieauty ; an Essay of Hume on the standard of Taste; 
Burke's Sublime and Beautiful ; Lord Kames's Ele- 
ments of Criticism ; Sir Joshua Reynolds's Discourses; 
and Alison on Taste, contain so much instruction, 
mixed with so much amusement, that we cannot think 
that it will be a terrible task to any parent to peruse them. 

These books are above the comprehension of chil- 
dren; but. the principles which they contain can be 



440 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

very early illustrated in conversation. It will be easy, 
in familiar instances, to show children that the fitness, 
propriety, or utility of certain forms, recommends them 
to our approbation : that uniformity, an appearance of 
order and regularity, are, in some cases, agreeable to 
us; contrast, in others : that one class of objects pleases 
us from habit, another from novelty, &c. The general 
principle that governs taste, in the greatest variety of 
instances, is the association of ideas; and this, fortu- 
nately, can be most easily illustrated. 

" I like such a person, because her voice puts me in 
mind of my mother's. I like this walk, because I was 
very happy the last time I was here with my sister. I 
think green is the prettiest of all colours ; my father's 
room is painted green, and it is very cheerful, and I 
have been very happy in that room; and, besides, the 
grass is green in spring." Such simple observations as 
these come naturally from children ; they take notice 
of the influence of association upon their taste, though, 
perhaps, they may not extend their observations so as 
to deduce the general principle according to philosophi- 
cal forms. We should not lay down for them this or 
any other principle of taste, as a rule which they are to 
take for granted ; but we should lead them to class their 
own desultory remarks, and we should excite them to 
attend to their own feelings, and to ascertain the truth 
by experiments upon themselves. We have often ob- 
served, that children have been much entertained with 
comparing the accidental circumstances they have met 
with, and tlie unpremeditated expressions used in con- 
versation, with any general maxim. In this point of 
view we may render even general maxims serviceable 
to children, because they will excite to experiment : our 
pupils will detect their falsehood, or, after sufficient 
reflection, acknowledge their truth. 

Perhaps it may be thought that this mode of instruc- 
tion will tend rather to improve the judgment than the 
taste ; but every person of good taste must also have a 
good judgment in matters of taste : sometimes the judg- 
ment may have been partially exercise^.! upon a particu- 
lar class of objects, and its accuracy of discrimination 
may be confined to this one object; therefore we hast- 
ily decide, that, because men of taste may not always 
be men of universally good judgment, these two powers 
of the mind are unnecessary to each other. By teach* 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 441 

ing the philosophy, at the same time that we cultivate 
the pleasures, of taste, we shall open to our pupils a new 
world ; we shall give them a new sense. The pleasure 
of every effect will be increased by the perception of its 
_pause ; the magic of the scenery will not lose its power 
to charm, though we are aware of the secret of the en- 
chantment. 

We have hitherto spoken of the taste for what is 
beautiful ; a taste for the sublime we should be cautious 
in cultivating. Obscurity and terror are two of the 
grand sources of the sublime ; analyze the feeling, ex- 
amine accurately the object which creates the emotion, 
and you dissipate the illusion, you annihilate the pleas- 
ure. 
" What seemed its head, the likeness of a kingly crown had on." 

The indistinctness of the head and of the kingly 
crown, makes this a sublime image. Upon the same 
principle, 

" Danger, whose limbs of giant mould, 
No mortal eye can fix'd behold," 

always must appear sublime as long as the passion of 
fear operates. Would it not, however, be imprudent in 
education to permit that early propensity to supersti- 
tious terrors, and that temporary suspension of the 
reasoning faculties, which are often essential to our 
taste for the sublime'? When we hear of " Margaret's 
grimly ghost," or of the " dead still hour of night," a sort 
of awful tremor seizes us, partly from the effect of early 
associations, and partly from the solemn tone of the 
reader. The early associations which we perhaps have 
formed of terror, with the ideas of apparitions, and wind- 
ing-sheets, and sable shrouds, should be unknown to 
children. The silent, solemn hour of midnight, should 
not to them be an hour of terror. In the following 
poetic description of the beldam telling dreadful stories 
to her infant audience, we hear only of the pleasures 
of the imagination ; we do not recollect how dearly 
these pleasures must be purchased by their votaries : 

« ♦ * * » * * finally by night 
The village matron, round the blazing hearth, 
Suspends the infant audience with her tales. 
Breathing astonishment ! of witching rhymes, 
And evil spirits ; of the death-bed call 
Of him who robb'd the widow, and devour'd 
T 3 



442 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

The orphan's portion ; of the \mquiet souls 

Ris'n from the grave to ease the heavy guilt 

Of deeds in hfe concealed ; of shapes that walk 

At dead of night, and clank their chains, and wave 

The torch of hell around the murd'rer's bed. 

At every solemn pause the crowd recoil, 

Gazing each other speechless, and congeal'd 

With shiv'ring sighs ; till, eager for th' event, 

Around the beldam all erect they hang. 

Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell'd."* 

No prudent mother will ever imitate this eloquent 
village matron, nor will she permit any beldam in the 
nursery to conjure up these sublime shapes, and to quell 
tiie hearts of her children with these grateful terrors. 
We were once present when a group of speechless chil- 
dren sat listening to the story of Blue-beard, "breathing 
astonishment." A gentleman who saw the charm be- 
ginning to operate, resolved to counteract its dangerous 
influence. Just at the critical moment when the fatal 
key drops from the trembling hands of the imprudent 
wife, the gentleman interrupted the awful pause" of 
silence that ensued, and requested permission to relate 
the remainder of tlie story. Tragicomedy does not 
offend the taste of young, so much as of old critics ; the 
transition from grave to gay was happily managed. 
Blue-beard's wife afforded much diversion, and lost all 
s^'inpathy the moment she was represented as a curious, 
tattling, timid, ridiculous woman. The terrors of Blue- 
beard himself subsided when he was properly introduced 
to the company; and the denouement of the piece was 
managed much to the entertainment of the audience ; 
the catastrophe, instead of freezing their young blood, 
produced general lautihter. Ludicrous images, thus 
presented to the mind which has been prepared for hor- 
ror, have an instantaneous effect upon the risible mus- 
cles : it seems better to use these means of counteract- 
ing tb.e terrors of the imagination, than to reason upon 
the subject while the fit is on ; reason should be used 
between the fits.f Those who study the minds of chil- 
dren know the nice touches which affect their imagina- 
tion, and they can, by a few words, change their feelings 
by tlie power of association. 

* Akenside. 

t " Know the.re are words and spells which can control; 
Between the lits, the fever of the soul." — Pope. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 443 

Ferdinand Duke of Tuscany was once struck with the 
picture of a child crying: the painter,! who was at 
work upon the head, wished to give the duke a proof 
of his skill : by a few judicious strokes, he converted 
the crying into a laughing face. The duke, when he 
looked at the child again, was in astonishment: the 
painter, to show himself master of the human counte- 
nance, restored his first touches ; and the duke, in afew 
moments, saw the child weeping again. A preceptor 
may acquire similar power over the countenance of his 
pupil, if he has studied the oratorical art. By the art 
of oratory, we do not mean the art of misrepresenta- 
tion, the art of deception ; we mean the art of showing 
the truth in the strongest light; of exciting virtuous 
enthusiasm and generous indignation. Warm, glowing 
eloquence is not inconsistent, with accuracy of reason- 
ing and judgment. When we have expressed our ad- 
miration or abhorrence of any action or character, we 
should afterward be ready coolly to explain to our pupils 
the justice of our sentiments: by this due mixture and 
alternation of eloquence and reasoning, we may culti- 
vate a taste for the moral and sublime, and yet preserve 
the character from any tincture of extravagant enthusi- 
asm. We cannot expect that the torrent of passion 
should never sweep away the landmarks of exact nio- 
rality ; but after its overflowing impetuosity abates, we 
should take a calm survey of its effects, and we should 
be able to ascertain the boundaries of right and wrong 
with geometrical precision. 

There is a style of bombast morality affected by some 
authors, which must be hurtful to young readers. Gen- 
erosity and honour, courage and sentiment, are the 
striking qualities wMiich seize and enchant the imagina- 
tion in romance; these qualities must be joined with 
justice, prudence, economy, patience, and many humble 
virtues, to make a character really estimable ; but these 
would spoil the effect, perhaps, of dramatic exhibitions. 

Children may with much greater safety see hideous, 
than gigantic representations of the passions. Richard 
the Third excites abhorrence ; but young Charles de 
Moor, in "The Robbers," commands our synjpathy; 
even the enormity of his guilt exempts him from all 
ordinary modes of trial ; we forget the murderer, and 

* Peter cf Cortona. 



444 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

see something like a hero. It is curious to observe, 
that the legislature in Germany and in England have 
found it necessary to interfere as to the representation 
of Captain Mac Heath and Charles de Moor, two char- 
acters in which the tragic and the comic muse have had 
powerful effects in exciting imitation. George Barn- 
well is a hideous representation of the passions, and 
therefore beneficial. 

There are many sublime objects which do not depend 
upon terror, or at least upon false associations of terror, 
for their effect ; and there are many sublime thoughts, 
which have no connexion with violent passions or false 
ideas of morality. These are what we should select, 
if possible, to raise, without inflating, the imagination. 
The view of the ocean, of the setting or the rising sun, 
the great and bold scenes of nature, affect the mind with 
sublime pleasure. All the objects which suggest ideas 
of vast space or power, of the infinite duration of time, 
of the decay of the monuments of ancient grandeur, or 
of the master-pieces of human art and industry, have 
power to raise sublime sensations : but we should con- 
sider, that they raise this pleasure only by suggesting 
certain ideas ; those who have not the previous ideas 
will not feel the pleasure. We should not, therefore, 
expect that children should admire objects which do not 
excite any ideas in their minds ; we should wait till they 
have acquired the necessary knowledge, and we should 
not injudiciously familiarize them with these objects. 

Simplicity is a source of the sublime, peculiarly suited 
to children ; accuracy of observation and distinctness of 
perception, are essential to this species of the sublime. 
In Percy's collection of ancient ballads, and in the mod- 
ern poems of the Ayreshire ploughman, we may see 
many instances of the effect of simplicity. To preserve 
our pupil's taste from a false love of ornament, he must 
avoid, either in books or conversation, all verbose and 
turgid descriptions, the use of words and epithets which 
only fill up the measure of a line. 

I When a child sees any new object, or feels any new 
sensation, we should assist him with appropriate words 
to express his thoughts and feelings : when the impres- 
sion is fresh in his mind, the association, with the pre- 
cise descriptive epithets, can be made with most cer- 
tainty. As soon as a child has acquired a suflicient 
stock of words and ideas, he should be from time to 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 445 

time exercised in description ; we should encourage him 
to give an exact account of his own feelings in his own 
words. Those parents who have been used to elegant, 
will not, perhaps, be satisfied with the plain descriptions 
of unpractised pupils ; but they should not be fastidious ; 
they should rather be content with an epithet too little, 
than with an epithet too much ; and they should com- 
pare the child's description with the objects actually 
described, and not the poems of Thomson or Gray, or 
Milton or Shakspeare. If we excite our pupils to copy 
from the writings of others, they never can have any 
originality of thought. To show parents what sort of 
simple descriptions they may reasonably expect from 
children, we venture to produce the following extempore 
description of a summer's evening, given by three chil- 
dren of different ages. 

July 12th, 1796. Mr. was walking out with his 

family, and he asked his children to describe the even- 
ing just as it appeared to them. "There were three 
bards in Ossian'p poems." said he, "who were sent out 
to see what sort of a night it was ; they all gave different 
descripiions upon their return ; you have never any of 
you read Ossian, but you can give us some description 
of this evening ; try." 

B (a girl of 14.) "The clouds in the west are 

bright with the light of the sun which has just set; a 
thick mist is seen in the east, and the smoke which had 
been heaped up in the daytime, is now spread, and mixes 
with the mist all round us; the noises are heard more 
plainly (though there are but few) than in the daytime ; 
and those which are at a distance, somid almost as near 
as those which are close to us ; there is a red mist round 
the moon." 

C (a girl of eleven years old.) " The western 

clouds are pink with the light of the sun which has just 
set. The moon shines red through the mist. The 
smoke and mist make it look dark at a distance ; but the 
few objects near us appear plainer. If it were not for 
the light of the moon, they would not be seen ; but the 
moon is exceedingly bright; it shines upon the house 
and the windows. Every thing sounds busy at a dis- 
tance ; but what is near us is still." 

S (a boy between nine and ten years old.) " The 

sun has set behind the hill, and the western clouds are 
tinged with light. The mist mixes with the smoke, 



446 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

which rises from the heaps of weeds which some poor 
man is burning to earn bread for his family. Tiie moon 
through the mist peeps her head, and sometimes she 
goes back, retires into her bower of clouds. The few 
noises that are heard are heard very plain— very 
plainly." 

We should observe, that the children who at- 
tempted these little descriptions had not been habit- 
uated to the poetic trade ; these were the only descrip- 
tions of an evening which they ever made. It would be 
hurtful to exercise children frequently in descriptive 
composition ; it would give them the habit of exact ob- 
servation, it is true, but. something more is necessary 
to the higher species of poetry. Words must be se- 
lected which do not represent only, but which suggest, 
ideas. Minute veracity is essential to some sorts of 
description; but in a higher style of poetry, only the 
large features characteristic of the scene must be pro- 
duced, and all that is subordinate must be suppressed. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds justly observes, that painters who 
aim nierely at deception of the eye by exact imitation, 
are not likely, even in their most successful imitations, 
to rouse the imagination. The man who mistook the 
painted fly for a real fly, only brushed, or attempted to 
brush it, away. Tha»exHct representation of such a 
common object, could i»ot raise any sublime ideas in his 
mind; and when he perceived the deception, the won- 
der which he felt at the painter's art. was a sensation 
no way connected with poetic enthusiasm. 

As soon as young people have collected a variety of 
ideas, we can proceed a step in the education of their fancy. 
We should sometimes in conversation, sometimes in 
writing or in drawing, show them how a few strokes, or 
a few words, can suggest or combine various ideas. A 
single expression from Cccsar charmed a mutinous army 
to instant submission. Unless the words " Roman CUi- 
zens r had suggested more than meets the ear, how 
could they hnve produced this wonderful effect 1 The 
works of Voltaire and Sterne abound with examples of 
the skilful use of the lanffuage of suggestion : on this 
the wit of Voltaire, and tlie humour and pathos of 
Sterne, securely depend for their success. Thus, cor- 
poral Trim's eloquence on the death of his young mas- 
ter, owed its eflect upon the whole kitchen, including 
" the fat scullion, who was scouring a fishkettle upon 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 447 

her knees," to ihe well-timed use of the mixed language 
of action and suggestion. 

" ' Are we not here now V continued the corporal 
(striking the end of his stick perpendicularly upon the 
floor, so as to give an idea of health and stability), ' and 
are we not' (dropping his hat upon the ground) ' gone in 
a moment V " 

" Are we not here now and gone in a moment V con- 
tinues Sterne, who, in this instance, reveals the secret 
of his own art. " There was nothing in the sentence; 
it was one of your self-evident truths we have the ad- 
vantage of hearing every day : and if Trim had not 
trusted more to his hat than his head, he had made 
nothing at all of it." 

When we point out to our pupils such examples in 
Sterne, we hope it will not be understood that we point 
them out to induce servile imitation. We apprehend 
that the imitators of Sterne have failed from not having 

discovered that the interjections and dashes of this 

author are not in themselves beauties, but that they 
affect us by suggesting ideas. To prevent any young 
writers from the intemperate or absurd use of interjec- 
tions, we should show them Mr. Home Tooke's acute 
remarks upon this mode of embellishment. We do not, 
however, entirely agree with this author in his abhor- 
rence of interjections. We do not believe that " where 
speech can be employed they are totally useless; and 
are always insufficient for the purpose of comnmnicating 
our thoughts."* Even if we class them, as Mr. Tooke 
himself does.f among '• involuntary convulsions with oral 
sound," such as groaning, shrieking, &c., yet they may 
suggest ideas, as well as express animal feelings. 
Sighing, according to Mr. Tooke, is in the class of inter- 
jections, yet the poet acknowledges the superior elo- 
quence of sighs : 

" Persuasive words, and more j>ersuasive siglis." 

" ' I wish,' said Uncle Toby, with a deep sigh (after 
hearing the story of Le Fevre), ' 1 wish. Trim, I was 
asleep.' " The sigh here adds great force to the wish, 
and it does not mark that Uncle Toby, from vehemence 
of passion, had returned to the brutal state of a savage 
who has not learned the use of speech ; but, on the con- 

* See Epea Pteroeritra, p. 88. f Chapter on Grammar. 



448 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

trary, it suggests to the reader that Uncle Toby was a 
man of civilized humanity; not one whose compassion 
was to be excited merely as an animal feeling by the 
actual sight of a fellow-creature in pain, but rather by 
the description of the sufferer's situation. 

In painting, as well as in writing, the language of sug- 
gestion affects the mind ; and if any of our pupils should 
wish to excel in this art, they must early attend to this 
principle. The picture of Agamemnon hiding his face 
at the sacrifice of his daughter, expresses little to the 
eye, but much to the imagination. The usual signs of 
grief and joy make but slight impression ; to laugh and 
to weep are such common expressions of delight or 
anguish, that they cannot be mistaken, even by the 
illiterate ; but the imagination must be cultivated to en- 
large the sphere of sympathy, and to render a more re- 
fined language intelhgible. It is said that a Milanese 
artist painted two peasants and two country girls, who 
laughed so heartily, that no one could look at them with- 
out laughing.* This is an instance of sympathy uncon- 
nected with imagination. The following is an instance 
of sympathy excited by imagination. When Portia was 
to part from Brutus, just before the breaking out of the 
civil war, "she endeavoured," says Plutarch, " as well 
as possible, to conceal the sorrow that oppressed her ; 
but, notwithstanding her magnanimity, a picture be- 
trayed her distress. The subject was the parting of 
Hector and Andromache. He was represented deliver- 
ing his son Astyanax into her arms, and the eyes of 
Andromache were fixed upon him. The resemblance 
that this picture bore to her own distress, made Portia 
burst into tears the moment she beheld it." If Portia 
had never read Homer, Andromache would not have 
had this power over her imagination and her sympathy. 

The imagination not only heightens the power of 
sympathy with the emotions of all the passions which a 
painter would excite, but it is likewise essential to our 
taste for another class of pleasures. Artists who, like 
Hogarth, would please by humour, wit, and ridicule, 
must depend upon the imagination of the spectators to 
supply all the intermediate ideas which they would sug- 
gest. The cobweb over the poor box, one of the hap- 
piest strokes of satire that Hogarth ever invented, would 

* See Camper's Works, p. 126. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 449 

probably say nothing to the inattentive eye, or the dull 
imagination. A young person must acquire the lan- 
guage, before he can understand the ideas of superior 
minds. 

The taste for poetry must be prepared by the culture 
of the imagination. The united powers of music and 
poetry could not have triumphed over Alexander, unless 
his imagination had assisted " the mighty master." 

*' With downcast looks the joyless victor sat, 
Revolving in his altered soul 
The various turns of chance below ; 
And now and then a sigh he stole, 
And tears began to How." 

The sigh and the tears were the consequences of 
Alexander's own thoughts, which were only recalled by 
kindred sounds. We are well aware that savage na- 
tions, or those that are imperfectly civilized, are subject 
to enthusiasm ; but we are inclined to think that the bar- 
barous clamour with which they proclaim their delight 
in music and poetry, may deceive us as to the degree in 
which it is felt: the sensations of cultivated minds may 
be more exquisite, tliough they are felt in silence. It 
has been supposed that ignorance is extremely sus- 
ceptible of the pleasures of wonder ; but wonder and 
admiration are different feelings : the admiration which 
a cultivated mind feels for excellence of which it can 
fully judge, is surely a higher species of pleasure than 
the brute wonder expressed by " a foolish face of 
praise." Madame Roland tells us that once, at a ser- 
mon preached by a celebrated Frenchman, she was 
struck with the earnest attention painted in the counte- 
nance of a young woman who was looking up at the 
preacher. At length the fair enthusiast exclaimed, " My 
God, how he perspires !" A different sort of admira- 
tion was felt by Cajsar, when the scroll dropped from 
his hand while he listened to an oration of Cicero. 

There are an infinite variety of associations by which 
the orator has power to rouse the imagination of a per- 
son of cultivated understanding; there are compara- 
tively few, by which he can amuse the fancy of illiterate 
auditors. It is not that they have less imagination than 
others ; they have equally the power of raising vivid 
images ; but there are few images which can be recalled 
to them : the combinations of their ideas are confined to 
a small number, and words have no poetic or literary 



450 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

associations in their minds: even among children, this 
difference between the power we have over the culti- 
vated and uncultivated mind, early appears. A laurel is 
to the eye of an ilUterate boy nothing more than a shrub 
with a shining, pale-green, pointed leaf: recall the idea of 
that shrub by the mast exact description, it will affect him 
with no peculiar pleasure ; but associate early in a boy's 
mind the ideas of glory, of poetry, of olyujpic crowns, of 
Daphne and Apollo ; by some of these latent associa- 
tions the orator may afterward raise his enthusiasm. 
We shall not here repeat wluu has been said* upon the 
choice of literature for young people, but shall once 
more warn parents to let their pupils read only the best 
authors, if they wish them to have a fine imagination 
or a delicate taste. When their minds are awake and 
warm, show them excellence ; let them hear oratory 
only when they can feel it ; if the impression be vivid, 
no matter how transient the touch. Ideas which have 
once struck the imagination, can be recalled by the 
magic of a word, with all their original, all their asso- 
ciated force. Do not fatigue the eye and ear of your 
vivacious pupil with the monotonous sounds and con- 
fused images of vulgar poetry. Do not make him re- 
peat tlie finest passages of Shakspeare and Milton : the 
effect is lost by repetition ; the words, the ideas are 
profaned. Let your pupils hear eloquence from elo- 
quent lips, and they will own its power. But let a 
drawling, unimpassioned reader, read a play of Shak- 
speare, or an oration of Demosthenes, and if your pupil 
is not out of patience, he will never taste the charms of 
eloquence. If he feels a fine sentiment, or a sublime 
idea, pause, leave his mind full, leave his imagination 
elevated. Five minutes afterward, perhaps, your pupil's 
attention is turned to something else, and the sublime 
idea seems to be forgotten : but do not fear; the idea is 
not obliterated ; it is latent in his memory ; it will ap- 
pear at a proper time, perhaps a month, perhaps twenty 
years afterward. Ideas may remain long useless and 
almost forgotten in the mind, and may be called forth by 
some corresponding association from their torpid state. 
Young people who wish to make themselves orators 
or eloquent writers, should acquire the habit of attend- 
ing first to the general impression made upon their own 

■* See Chapter on Books. 



tasTe and imagination. 451 

minds by oratory, and afterward to the cause which 
produced the effect; hence they will obtain command 
over the minds of others, by using the knowledge they 
have acquired of their own. The habit of considering 
every new idea, or new fact, as a subject for allusion, 
may also be useful to the young orator. A change, from 
time to time in the nature of his studies, will enlarge 
and invigorate his imagination. Gibbon says, that, after 
the publication of his first volume of the Roman history, 
he gave himself a short holyday. " I indulged my cu- 
riosity in some studies of a very different nature : a 
course of anatomy, which was demonstrated by Dr. 
Hunter, and some lessons of chymistry, which were de- 
livered by Dr. Higgins. The principles of these sciences, 
and a taste for books of natural history, contributed to 
multiply my ideas and images ; and the anatomist and 
chymist may sometimes track me in their own snow." 

Different degrees of enthusiasm are requisite in dif- 
ferent professions ; but we are inclined to think, that the 
imagination might with advantage be cultivated to a 
much higher degree than is commonly allowed in young 
men intended for public advocates. We have seen 
several examples of the advantage of a general taste 
for the belles lettres in eminent lawyers ;* and we have 
lately seen an ingenious treatise called Deinolog3% or in- 
structions for a Young Barrister, which confirms our 
opinion upon this subject. An orator, by the judicious 
preparation of the minds of his audience, may increase 
the effect of his best arguments. A Grecian painter,t 
before he would produce a picture which he had fin- 
ished, representing a martial enterprise, ordered mar- 
tial music to be played, to raise the enthusiasm of 
the assembled spectators; when their imagination was 
sufficiently elevated, he uncovered the picture, and it 
was beheld with sympathetic transports of applause. 

It is usually thought that persons of extraordinary 
imagination are deficient in judgment : by proper edu- 
cation, this evil might be prevented. We may observe 
that persons who have acquired particular facility in 
certain exercises of the imagination, can, by voluntary 
exertion, either excite or suppress certain trains of 
ideas on which their enthusiasm depends. An actor, 
who storms and raves while he is upon the stage, ap- 

* Lord Mansfield, Hussey Burgh, &c. t Theon. 



452 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

pears with a mild and peaceable demeanour a moment 
afterward behind the scenes. A poet, in his inspired 
moments, repeats his own verses in his garret with all 
the emphasis and fervour of enthusiasm ; but when he 
comes down to dine with a mixed convivial company, 
his poetic fury subsides, and a new train of ideas takes 
place in his imagination. As long as he has sufficient 
command over himself to lay aside his enthusiasm in 
company he is considered as a reasonable, sensible 
man, and the more imagination he displays in iiis poems, 
the better. The same exercise of fancy, which we 
admire in one case, we ridicule in another. The enthu- 
siasm which characterizes the man of genius, borders 
upon insanity. 

When Voltaire was teaching Mademoiselle Claron, 
the celebrated actress, to perform an impassioned part 
in one of his tragedies, she objected to the violence of 
his enthusiasm. " Mais, monsieur, on me prendroit 
pour uiie possedee !"* " Eh, mademoiselle," replied the 
philosophic bard, *' 11 faut 6tre un possede pour reussir 
en aucun art." 

The degree of enthusiasm which makes the painter 
and poet set, what to more idle or more busy mortals, 
appears an imaginary value upon their respective arts, 
supports the artist under the pressure of disappointment 
and neglect, stimulates his exertions, and renders him 
almost insensible to labour and fatigue. Military heroes, 
or those who are " insane with ambition,''''] endure all the 
real miseries of life, and brave the terrors of death, un- 
der the invigorating influence of an extravagant imagi- 
nation. Cure them of their enthusiasm, and they are no 
longer heroes. We must, therefore, decide in education, 
what species of characters we would produce, before we 
can determine what degree or what habits of imagina- 
tion are desirable. 

" Je suis le Dieu de la danse !"| exclaimed Vestris ; and 
probably Alexander the Great did not feel more pride in 
his apotheosis. Had any cynical philosopher under^ 
taken to cure Vestris of his vanity, it would not have 
been a charitable action. Vestris might, perhaps, by 
force of reasoning, have been brought to acknowledge 

* " But, sir, I shall be taken for one possessed !"— *' Well, ma'am 
you must be like one possessed, if you would succeed in any art." 
t Dr. Darwin. t " I am the god of dancing !" 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 453 

that a dancing-master was not a divinity, but this con- 
viction would not have increased Ins felicity ; on the 
contrary, he would have become wretched in proportion 
as he became rational. The felicity of enthusiasts de- 
pends upon tlieir benig absolutely incapable of reasoning, 
or of listening to reason, upon certain subjects ; pro- 
vided they are resolute in repeating their own train of 
thoughts without comparing them with that of others, 
they may defy the malice of wisdom, and in happy 
ignorance may enjoy perpetual delirium. 

Parents who value the happiness of their children, 
will consider exactly what chance there is of their en- 
joying unmolested any partial enthusiasm ; they will 
consider, that by early excitations, it is very easy to 
raise any species of ambition in the minds of their pu- 
pils. The various species of enthusiasm necessary to 
make a poet, a painter, an orator, or a military hero, may 
be inspired, without doubt, by education. How far these 
are connected with happiness, is another question. 
Whatever be the object which he pursues, we must, as 
much as possible, ensure our pupil's success. Those 
who have been excited to exertion by enthusiasm, if they 
do not obtain the reward or admiration which they had 
been taught to expect, sink into helpless despondency. 
Whether their object has been great or small, if it has 
been their favourite object, and they fail of its attain- 
ment, their mortificatioti and subsequent languor are un- 
avoidable. The wisest of monarchs exclaimed, that all 
was vanity and vexation of spirit : he did not, perhaps, 
feel more weary of the world than the poor juggler felt, 
who, after educating his hands to the astonishing dex- 
terity of throwing up into the air, and catching as they 
fell, six eggs successively, without breaking them, re- 
ceived from the emperor before whom he performed, 
six eggs, to reward the labour of his life ! 

This poor man's ambition appears obviously absurd ; 
and we are under no immediate apprehension, that pa- 
rents should inspire their children with the enthusiasm 
necessary to the profession of a juggler: but, unless 
some precautions are taken, the objects which excite the 
ambition of numbers, may be placed so as to deceive 
the eye and imagination of children ; and they may la- 
bour through life in pursuit of phantoms. If children 
early hear their parents express violent admiration for 
riches, rank, power, or fame, they catch a species of en- 



454 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

thuslasni f*)r these things, before they can estimate 
justly their value ; from the couuleuance and manner, 
they draw very important conclusions. " Felicity is 
painted on your countenance," iy a polite phrase of salu- 
tation in China. The taste for looking happy is not 
confined to the Chinese: the rich and great,* by every 
artifice of luxury, endeavour to impress the spectator 
with the idea of their superior felicity. From experi- 
ence we know, that the external signs of delight are not 
always sincere, and that the apparatus of luxury is not 
necessary to happiness. Children who live with persons 
of good sense, learn to separate the ideas of happiness 
and a coach and six ; but young people who see their 
fathers, mothers, and preceptors, all smitten with sudden 
admiration at the sight of a phaeton or a fine gentleman, 
are immediately infected wuth the same absurd enthu- 
siasm. These parents do not suspect that they are per- 
verting the imagination of their children, when they call 
them with foolish eagerness to the window to look at a 
fine equipage, a splendid cavalcade, or a military proces- 
sion ; they perhaps summon a boy who is intended for 
a merchant or a lawyer, to hear " the spirit-stirring 
drum ;"' and they are afterward surprised, if he says, 
when he is fifteen or sixteen, that, "• if his father pleases^ 
he had rather go into the army than go to the bar." 
The mother is alarmed, perhaps, about the same time, 
by an unaccountable predilection in her daughter's fancy 
for a red coat, and totally forgets having called the child 
to the window to look at the smart cockades, and to hear 
the tune of " See, the conquering hero comes." 

" Hear you me, Jessica," says Shylock to his daugh- 
ter, " lock up my doors ; and when you hear the drum, 
and the vile squeaking of the wry-necked fife, clamber 
not you up into the casements then." 

Sliylock's exhortations were vain; Jessica had ar- 
rived at years of discretion, and it was too late to forbid 
her clambering into the casements ; the precautions 
should have been taken sooner ; the epithets vile, 
squeaking, and wry-necked fife, could not alter the 
lady's taste ; and Shylock should have known how per- 
emptory prohibitions and exaggerated expressions of 
aversion operate upon the female imagination ; he was 
imprudent in the extreme of his caution. We should let 

* See SmillTs Moral Thecr;. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 456 

children see things as they really are, and we should not 
prejudice thetii either by our exclamations of rapture, 
or by our atfected disgust. If they are familiarized 
with show, they will not be caught by it; if they seethe 
whole of whatever is to be seen, their imagination will 
not paint things more delightful than they really are. 
For these reasons, we think that young people should 
not be restrained, though they may be guided in their 
tastes ; we should supply them witli all the information in 
which they are deficient, and leave them to form their 
own judgments. 

Without making it a matter of favour, or of extra- 
ordinary consequence, parents can take their children 
to see public exhibitions, or to partake of any amuse- 
ments which are really agreeable ; they can, at the same 
time, avoid mixing factitious with real pleasure. If, for 
instance, we have an opportunity of tnking a boy to a 
good play, or a girl to a ball, let them enjoy the full 
pleasure of the amusement, but do not let us excite 
their imagination by great preparations, or by antici- 
pating remarks : " Oh, youUl be very happy to-morrow, 
for you're to go to the play. You must look well to- 
night, for you are going to the ball. Were you never 
at a ball ? Did you never see a play before 1 Oh, then^ 
you'll be delighted, I'm sure !" The children often look 
much more sensible, and sometimes more composed, in 
the midst of these foolish exclamations, than their pa- 
rents. " Est ce que je m'amuse, maman 1" said a little 
girl of six years old, the first time she was taken to the 
playhouse. 

Besides the influence of opinion, there are a number 
of other circumstances to be considered in cultivating 
the imagination ; there are many other circumstances 
which must be attended to, and different precautions 
are necessary, to regulate properly the imagination of 
children of different dispositions or temperaments. The 
disposition to associate ideas, varies in strength and 
quickness in opposite temperaments: the natural vivacity 
or dulness of the senses, the habit of observing external 
objects, the power of voluntary exertion, and the pro- 
pensity to revery, must all be considered before we can 
adapt a plan of education exactly to the pupil's advan- 
tage. A wise preceptor will counteract, as much as 
possible, all those defects to which a child may appear 
most liable, and will cultivate liis imagination so as to 



456 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

prevent the errors to which he is most exposed by nat- 
ural, or what we call natural, disposition. 

Some children appear to feel sensations of pleasure 
or pain with more energy than others ; they take more 
dehglit in feeling than in reflection ; they have neither 
much leisure nor much inclination for the intellectual 
exertions of comparison and deliberation. Great care 
should be taken to encourage children of this temper to 
describe and to compare their sensations. By their 
descriptions we shall judge what motives we ought to 
employ to govern them, and if we can teach them to 
compare their feelings, we shall induce that voluntary 
exertion of mind in which they are naturally defective. 
We cannot compare or Judge of our sensations without 
voluntary exertion. When we deliberate, we repeat 
our ideas deliberately ; and this is an exercise peculi- 
arly useful to those who feel quickly. 

When any pleasure makes too great an impression 
upon these children of vivid sensations, we should re- 
peat the pleasure frequently till it begins to fatigue ; or 
we should contrast it, and bring it into direct com- 
parison with some other species of pleasure. For in- 
stance, suppose a boy had appeared highly delighted 
with seeing a game at cards, and that we were appre- 
hensive he might, from this early association, acquire a 
taste for gaming, we might either repeat the amuse- 
ment till the playing of cards began to weary the boy, 
or we might take him immediately after playing at cards 
to an interesting comedy ; probably the amusement he 
would receive at the playhouse would be greater than 
that which he had enjoyed at the card-table ; and as 
these two species of pleasure would immediately suc- 
ceed to each other, the child could scarcely avoid com- 
paring them. Is it necessary to repeat, that all this 
should be done without any artifice 1 The child should 
know the meaning of our conduct, and then he will never 
set himself in opposition to our management. 

If it is not convenient or possible to dull the charm 
of novelty by repetition, or to contrast a new pleasure 
with some other superior amusement, there is another 
expedient which may be useful ; we may call the power 
of association to our assistance ; this power is some- 
times a full match for the most lively sensations. For 
instance, suppose a boy of strong feelings had been 
offended by some trifle, and expressed sensations of 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 457 

hatred against the offender obviously too violent for the 
occasion ; to bring the angry boy's imagination to a 
temperate state, we might recall some circumstance of 
his former affection for the offender; or the general 
idea, that it is amiable and noble to command our 
passion, and to forgive those who have injured us. At 
the sight of his mother, with whom he had many agreea- 
ble associations, the imagination of Coriolanus raised 
up instantly a train of ideas connected with the love of 
his family and of his country, and immediately the 
violence of his sensations of anger was subdued. 

Brutus, after his friend Cassius has apologized to him 
for his " rash humour," by saying, " that it was heredi- 
tary from his mother," promises that the next time 
Cassius is over-earnest with " his Brutus, he will think 
his mother chides, and leave him so ;" that is to say, 
Brutus promises to recollect an association of ideas, 
which shall enable him to bear with his friend's ill- 
humour. 

Children who associate ideas very strongly and with 
rapidity,* must be educated with continual attention. 
With children of this class, the slightest circumstances 
are of consequence ; they may at first appear to be 
easily managed, because they will remember pertina- 
ciously any reproof, any reward or punishment ; and, 
from association, they will scrupulously avoid or follow 
what has, in any one instance, been joined with pain or 
pleasure in their imagination : but, unfortunately, acci- 
dental events will influence them, as well as the rewards 
and punishments of their preceptors ; and a variety of 
associations will be formed, which may secretly govern 
them long before their existence is suspected. We 
shall be surprised to find, that even where there is ap- 
parently no hope, or fear, or passion, to disturb their 
judgment, they cannot reason, or understand reasoning. 
On studying them more closely, we shall discover the 
cause of this seeming imbecility. A multitude of asso- 
ciated ideas occur to them upon whatever subject we 
attempt to reason, which distract their attention, and 
make them change the terms of every proposition with 
incessant variety. Their pleasures are chiefly second- 
ary reflected pleasures, and they do not judge by their 
actual sensations so much as by their associations. 

*• Temperament of increased association. — Zoonomia. 

U 



458 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

They like and dislike without being able to assign any 
sufficient cause for their preference or aversion. They 
make a choice frequently without appearing to deliber- 
ate ; and if you, by persuading them to a more detailed 
examination of the objects, convince them, that accord- 
ing to the common standard of good and evil, they have 
made a foolish choice, they will still seem puzzled and 
uncertain ; and, if you leave them at liberty, will persist 
in their original determination. By this criterion we 
may decide, that they are influenced by some secret 
false association of ideas ; and, instead of arguing with 
them upon the obvious folly of their present choice, v^^e 
should endeavour to make them trace back their ideas, 
and discover the association by which they are gov- 
erned. In some cases this may be out of their power, 
because the original association may have been totally 
forgotten, and yet those connected with it may continue 
to act : but even when we cannot succeed in any partic- 
ular instance in detecting the cause of the error, w^e 
shall do the pupils material service by exciting them 
to observe their own minds. A tutor who carefully re- 
marks the circimistances in which a child expresses 
uncommon grief or joy, hope or fear, may obtain com- 
plete knowledge of his'associations, and may accurately 
distinguish the proximate and remote causes of all his 
pupil's desires and aversions. He will then have abso- 
lute command over the child's mind, and he should upon 
no account trust his pupil to the direction of any other 
person. Another tutor, though perhaps of equal ability, 
could not be equally secure of success ; the child would 
probably be suspected of cunning, caprice, or obstinacy, 
because the causes of his tastes and judgments could 
not be discovered by his new preceptor. 

It often happens that those who feel pleasure and 
plain most strongly, are likewise most disposed to form 
strong associations of ideas.* Children of this char- 
acter are never stupid, but often prejudiced and passion- 
ate : they can readily assign a reason for their pref- 
erence or aversion ; they recollect distinctly the ori- 
ginal sensations of pleasure or pain, on which their 
associations depend ; they do not, like Mr. Transfer in 
Zeluco, like or dislike persons and things because they 

* See Zoonomia. Temperament of increased sensibility and as- 
sociation joined. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 459 

have heen used to them, but because they have received 
some injury or benefit from them. Such children are 
apt to make great mistakes in reasoning, from their 
registering of coincidences hastily ; they do not wait to 
repeat their experiments ; but if they have in one in- 
stance observed two things to liappen at the same time, 
they expect that they will always recur together. If 
one event precedes or follows another accidentally, they 
believe it to be the cause or effect of its concomitant, 
and this belief is not to be shaken in their minds by- 
ridicule or argument. They are, consequently, inclined 
both to superstition and enthusiasm, according as their 
hopes and fears predominate. They are likewise sub- 
ject to absurd antipathies — antipathies which verge to- 
wards insanity. 

Dr. Darwin relates a strong instance of antipathy in 
a child from association. The child, on tasting the 
gristle of sturgeon, asked what gristle was 1 and was 
answered; that gristle was like the division of a man's 
nose. The child, disgusted at this idea, for twenty 
years afterward could never be persuaded to taste 
sturgeon.* 

Zimmermann assures us that he was an eyewitness 
of a singular antipathy, which we may be permitted tO 
describe in his own words : — 

" Happening to be in company with some English 
gentlemen, all of them men of distinction, the conversa- 
tion fell upon antipathies. Many of the company denied 
Iheir reality, and considered them as idle stories ; but I 
assured them that they were truly a disease. Mr. Will- 
iam Matthews, son to the governor of Barbadoes, was 
of my opinion, because he himself had an antipathy to 
spiders. The rest of the company laughed at him.*.I 
undertook to prove to them that this antipathy tvas 
really an impression on his soul, resulting from the deter- 
mination of a mechanical effect. (We do not pretend to 
know what Dr. Zimmermann means by this.) Lord 
John Murray undertook to shape some black wax into 
the appearance of a spider, with a view to observe 
whether the antipathy would take place at the simple 
figure of the insect. He then withdrew for a moment, 
and came in again with the wax in his hand, which 
he kept shut. Mr. Matthews, who in other respects 

* Zoonomia, vol. ii. 
U2 



460 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

was a very amiable and moderate man, immediately 
conceiving that his friend really had a spider in his 
hand, clapped his hand to his sword with extreme fury, 
and running back towards the partition, cried out most 
horribly. All the muscles of his face were swelled, his 
eyes were rolling in their sockets, and his body was im- 
moveable. We were all exceedingly alarmed, and im- 
mediately ran to his assistance, took his sword from 
him, and assured him that what he conceived to be a 
spider was nothing more than a bit of wax, which he 
might see upon the table. 

" He remained some time in this spasmodic state ; 
but at length he began to recover, and to deplore the 
horrible passion from which he still suffered. His pulse 
M^as very strong and quick, and his whole body was 
covered with a cold perspiration. After taking an ano- 
dyne draught, he resumed his usual tranquillity. 

" We are not to wonder at this antipathy," continues 
Zimmermann ; " the spiders at Barbadoes are very large, 
and of a hideous figure. Mr. Matthews was born 
there, and his antipathy was therefore to be accounted 
for. Some of the company undertook to make a little 
waxen spider in his presence. He saw this done with 
great tranquillity, but he could not be persuaded to touch 
it, though he was by no means a timorous man in other 
respects. Nor would he follow my advice to endeavour 
to conquer this antipathy by first drawing parts of spi- 
ders of different sorts, and after a time whole spiders, 
till at length he might be able to look at portions of 
real spiders, and thus gradually accustom himself to 
whole ones, at first dead, and then living ones."* 

Dr. Zimmermann's method of cure appears rather 
more ingenious than his way of accounting for the dis- 
ease. Are all the natives of Barbadoes subject to con- 
vulsions at the sight of the large spiders in that island] 
or why does Mr. William Matthews' having been born 
there account so satisfactorily for his antipathy 1 

The cure of these unreasonable fears of harmless ani- 
mals, like all other antipathies, would, perhaps, be easily 
effected, if it were judiciously attempted early in life. 
The epithets which we use in speaking of animals, and 
our expressions of countenance, have great influence on 

* Monthly Review of Zimmermann on Experience in Physic, 
March, 1783, page 211. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 461 

the minds of children. If we, as Dr. Darwin advises, 
call the spider the ingenious spider, and the frog the 
harmless frog, and if we look at them with complacency, 
instead of aversion, children, from sympathy, will imitate 
our manner, and from curiosity will attend to the ani- 
mals, to discover whether the commendatory epithets 
we bestow upon them are just. 

It is comparatively of little consequence to conquer 
antipathies which have trifling objects. An individual 
can go through life very well without eating sturgeon, 
or touching spiders ; but when we consider the influ- 
ence of the same disposition to associate false ideas too 
strongly in more important instances, we shall perceive 
the necessity of correcting it by education, 

Locke tells us of a young man, who, having been ac- 
customed to see an old trunk in the room with him 
when he learned to dance, associated his dancing exer- 
tions so strongly with the sight of this trunk, that he 
could not succeed by any voluntary efforts in its ab- 
sence. We have, in our remarks upon attention,* 
pointed out the great inconveniences to which those are 
exposed who acquire associated habits of intellectual 
exertion ; who cannot speak, or write, or think, without 
certain habitual aids to their memory or imagination. 
We must farther observe, that incessant vigilance is 
necessary in the moral education of children disposed 
to form strong associations ; they are liable to sudden 
and absurd dislikes or predilections, with respect toper- 
sons as well as things ; they are subject to caprice in 
their aff'ections and temper, and liable to a variety of 
mental infirmities, which, in different degrees, we call 
passion or madness. Locke tells us that he knew a 
man who, after having been restored to health by a 
painful operation, had so strongly associated tlie idea 
and figure of the operator with the agony he had en- 
dured, that though he acknowledged the obligation, and 
felt gratitude towards this friend who had saved him, 
he never afterward could bear to see his benefactor. 
There are some people who associate so readily and in- 
corrigibly the idea of any pain or insult they have re- 
ceived from another, with his person and character, 
that they can never afterward forget or forgive. They 
are hence disposed to all the intemperance of hatred and 

* See Chapter on Attention. 



462 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

revenge ; to the chronic malice of an lago, or the acute 
pang^ of an Achilles. Homer, in his speech of Achilles 
to Agamemnon's mediating ambassadors, has drawn a 
strong and natural picture of the progress of anger. It 
is worth studying as a lesson in metaphysics. When- 
ever association suggests to the mind of Achilles the 
injury he has received, he loses his reason, and the 
orator works himself up from argument to declamation, 
and from declamation to desperate resolution, through 
a close-linked connexion of ideas and sensations. 

The insanities of ambition, avarice, and vanity, ori- 
ginate in early mistaken associations. A feather, or a 
crown, or an alderman's chain, or a cardinal's hat, or a 
purse of yellow counters, is unluckily associated in the 
minds of some men with the idea of happiness, and, 
without staying to deliberate, these unfortunate persons 
hunt through life the phantasms of a disordered imagi- 
nation. While we pity, we are amused by the blindness 
and blunders of those whose mistakes can affect no 
one's felicity but their own ; but any delusions which 
prompt their victims to actions inimical to their fellow- 
creatures, are the objects not unusually of pity, but of 
indignation, of private aversion and public punishment. 
We smile at the avaricious insanity of the miser, who 
dresses himself in the cast-off wig of a beggar, and 
pulls a crushed pancake from his pocket for his own 
and for his friend's dinner.* We smile at the insane 
vanity of the pauper, who dressed himself in a many- 
coloured paper star, assumed the title of Duke of Bau- 
bleshire, and as such required homage from every pas- 
senger. f But are we inclined to smile at tlie outra- 
geous vanity of the man who styled himself the son of 
Jupiter, and who murdered his best friend for refusing 
him divine honours ] Are we disposed to pity the slave- 
merchant, who, urged by tlie maniacal desire for gold, 
hears unmoved the groans of his fellow-creatures, the 
execrations of mankind, and that " small still voice," 
which haunts those vi^ho are stained with blood 1 

The moral insanities which strike us with horror, 
compassion, or ridicule, however they may differ in their 
effects, have frequently one common origin; an early 
false association of ideas. Persons who mistake in 

■ Elwes. See his Life. 

t There is an account of this poor man's death in the Star, 1796. 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 463 

measuring their own feelings, or who neglect to com- 
pare their ideas, and to balance contending wishes, 
scarcely merit the name of rational creatures. The 
man who does not deliberate, is lost. 

We have endeavoured, though well aware of the dif- 
ficulty of the subject, to point out some of the precau- 
tions that should be used in governing the imagination 
of young people of different dispositions. We should 
add, that in all cases the pupil's attention to his own 
mind will be of more consequence than the utmost 
vigilance of the most able preceptor ; the sooner he is 
made acquainted with his own character, and the sooner 
he can be excited to govern himself by reason, or to at- 
tempt the cure of his own defects, the better. 

There is one habit of the imagination to which we 
have not yet adverted ; the habit of revery. In re very 
we are so intent upon a particular train of ideas, that 
we are unconscious of all external objects, and we 
exert but little voluntary power. It is true that some 
persons in castle-building both reason and invent, and 
therefore must exert some degree of vohtion ; even in 
the wildest revery, there may be traced some species 
of consistency, some connexion among the ideas ; but 
this is simply the result of the association of ideas. 
Intentive castle-builders are rather nearer the state of 
insanity than of revery ; they reason well upon false 
principles ; their airy fabrics are often both in good taste 
and in good proportion ; nothing is wanting to them but 
a foundation. On the contrary, nothing can be more 
silly than the reveries of silly people ; they are not only 
defective in consistency, but they want all the unities ; 
they are not extravagant, but they are stupid ; they con- 
sist usually of a listless reiteration of uninteresting 
ideas ; the whole pleasure enjoyed by those addicted to 
them, consists in the facility of repetition. 

It is a mistaken notion, that only people of ardent 
imaginations are disposed to revery ; the most indolent 
•and stupid persons waste their existence in this indul- 
gence ; they do not act always in consequence of their 
dreams, therefore we do not detect their folly. Young 
people of active minds, when they have not sufficient 
occupation, necessarily indulge in revery ; and, by de- 
grees, this wild exercise of their invention and imagina- 
tion becomes so delightful to them, that they prefer it 
to all sober employments. 



464 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Mr. Williams, in his Lectures upon Education, gives 
an account of a boy singularly addicted to revery. The 
desire of invisibility had seized his mind, and for several 
years he had indulged his fancy with imagining all the 
pleasures that he should command, and all the feats that 
he could perform, if he were in possession of Gyges's 
ring. The reader should, however, be informed, that 
this castle-builder was not a youth of strict veracity ; 
his confession upon this occasion, as upon others, might 
not have been sincere. We only state the story from 
Mr. Williams. 

To prevent children from acquiring a taste for rev- 
ery, let them have various occupations both of mind and 
body. Let us not direct their imagination to extraor- 
dinary future pleasures, but let us suffer them to enjoy 
the present. Anticipation is a species of revery ; and 
children who have promises of future pleasures fre- 
quently made to them, live in a continual state of anti- 
cipation. 

To cure the habit of revery when it has once been 
formed, we must take different methods with different 
tempers. With those who indulge in the stupid revery, 
we should employ strong excitations, and present to the 
senses a rapid succession of objects, which will com- 
pletely engage without fatiguing them. This mode 
must not be followed with children of different dis- 
positions, else we should increase, instead of curing, 
the disease. The most likely method to break this 
habit in children of great quickness or sensibility, is to 
set them to some employment which is wholly new to 
them, and which will consequently exercise and ex- 
haust all their faculties, so that they shall have no life 
left for castle-building. Monotonous occupations, such 
as copying, drawing, or writing, playing on the harpsi- 
chord, &c., are not, if habit has made tJiem easy to the 
pupil, fit for our purpose. We may all perceive, that in 
such occupations the powers of the mind are left un- 
exercised. We can frequently read aloud with tolerable 
emphasis for a considerable time together, and at the 
same time think upon some subject foreign to the book 
we hold in our hands. 

The most difficult exercises of the mind, such as in- 
vention, or strict reasoning, are those alone which are 
sufficient to subjugate and chain down the imagination 
of some active spirits. To such laborious exercises 



TASTE AND IMAGINATION. 465 

they should be excited by the encouraging voice of 
praise and affection. Imaginative children will be more 
disposed to invent than to reason, but they cannot per- 
fect any invention without reasoning ; there will, there- 
fore, be a mixture of what they like and dislike in the 
exercise of invention, and the habit of reasoning will, 
perhaps, gradually become agreeable to them, if it be 
thus dexterously united with the pleasures of the ima- 
gination. 

So much has already been written by various authors 
upon the pleasures and the dangers of imagination, that 
we could scarcely hope to add any thing new to what 
they have produced : but we have endeavoured to. 
arrange the observations which appeared most appli- 
cable to practical education ; we have pointed out how 
the principles of taste may be early taught without in- 
jury to the general understanding, and how the imagi- 
nation should be prepared for the higher pleasures of 
eloquence and poetry. We have attempted to define 
the boundaries between the enthusiasm of genius and 
its extravagance ; and to show some of the precautions, 
which may be used to prevent the moral defects to 
which persons of ardent imagination are usually subject. 
The degree in which the imagination should be cul- 
tivated must, we have observed, be determined by the 
views which parents may have for their children, by 
their situation in society, and by the professions for 
which they are destined. Under the government of a 
sober judgment, the powers of the imagination must be 
advantageous in every situation ; but their value to so- 
ciety, and to the individuals by whom they are possessed, 
depends ultimately upon the manner in which they are 
managed. A magician, under the control of a philos- 
opher, ^would perform not only great, but useful won- 
ders. 'The homely proverb which has been applied to. 
fire, may with equal truth be applied to imagination :. 
*' It is a good servant, but a bad master." 
U 3 



466 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ON WIT AND JUDGMENT. 

It has been shown that the powers of memory, in- 
vention, and imagination, ought to be rendered subserv- 
ient to judgment : it has been shown that reasoning and 
judgment abridge the labours of memory, and are ne- 
cessaiy to regulate the highest flights of imagination. 
We shall consider the power of reasoning in another 
view, as being essential to our conduct in life. The 
object of reasoning is to adapt means to an end, to attain 
the command of effects by the discovery of the causes 
on which they depend. 

Until children have acquired some knowledge of 
effects, they cannot inquire into causes. Observation 
must precede reasoning ; and as judgment is nothing 
more than the perception of the result of comparison, 
we should never urge our pupils to judge until they 
have acquired some portion of experience. 

To teach children to compare objects exactly, we 
should place the things to be examined distinctly before 
them. Every thing that is superfluous should be taken 
away, and a sufficient motive should be given to 'excite 
the pupil's attention. We need not here repeat the ad- 
vice that has formerly been given* respecting the choice 
of proper motives to excite and fix attention ; or the 
precautions necessary to prevent the pain of fatigue, 
and of unsuccessful application. If comparison be 
early rendered a task to children, they will dislike and 
avoid this exercise of the mind, and they will conse- 
quently show an inaptitude to reason : if comparing 
objects be made interesting and amusing to our pupils, 
they will soon become expert in discovering resem- 
blances and differences ; and thus they will be prepared 
for reasoning. 

Rousseau has judiciously advised, that the senses of 
children should be cultivated with the utmost care. In 
proportion to the distinctness of their perceptions, will be 
the accuracy of their memory, and, probably, also the 

* See Chapter on Attention. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 467 

precision of their judgment. A child who sees imper- 
fectly, cannot reason justly about the objects of sight, 
because he has not sufficient data. A child who does 
not hear distinctly, cannot judge well of sounds ; and if 
we could suppose the sense of touch to be twice as ac- 
curate in one child as in another, we might conclude 
that the judgment of these children must differ in a 
similar proportion. The defects in organization are not 
within the power of the preceptor ; but we may observe, 
that inattention, and want of exercise, are frequently 
the causes of what appear to be natural defects ; and, 
on the contrary, increased attention and cultivation 
sometimes produce that quickness of eye and ear, and 
that consequent readiness of judgment, which we are 
apt to attribute to natural superiority of organization or 
capacity. Even among children, we may early observe 
a considerable difference between the quickness of their 
senses and of their reasoning upon subjects where they 
have had experience, and upon those on which they 
have not been exercised. 

The first exercises for the judgment of children 
should, as Rousseau recommends, relate to visible and 
tangible substances. Let them compare the size and 
shape of different objects ; let them frequently try what 
they can lift ; what they can reach ; at what distance 
they can see objects ; at what distance they can hear 
sounds: by these exercises they will learn to judge of 
distances and weight ; and they may learn to judge of 
the solid contents of bodies of different shapes, by com- 
paring the observations of their sense of feeling and of 
sight. The measure of hollow bodies can be easily 
taken by pouring liquids into them, and then comparing 
the quantities of the liquids that fill vessels of different 
shapes. This is a very simple method of exercising the 
judgment of children ; and, if they are allowed to try 
these little experiments for themselves, the amusement 
will fix the facts in their memory, and will associate 
pleasure with the habits of comparison. Rousseau re- 
wards Emilius with cakes when he judges rightly ; suc- 
cess, we think, is a better reward. Rousseau was him- 
self childishly fond of cakes and cream. 

The step which immediately follows comparison, is 
deduction. The cat is larger than the kitten ; then a 
hole through which the cat can go must be larger than 
a hole through which the kitten can go. Long before a 



468 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

child can put this reasoning into words, he is capable 
of forming the conclusion, and we need not be in haste 
to make him announce it in mode and figure. We may 
see by the various methods which young children em- 
ploy to reach what is above them, to drag, to push, to 
lift different bodies, that they reason; that is to say, 
that they adapt means to an end, before they can ex- 
plain their own designs in words. Look at a child 
building a house of cards ; he dexterously balances 
every card as he floors the edifice ; he raises story over 
story, and shows us that he has some design in view, 
though he would be utterly incapable of describing his 
intentions previously in words. We have formerly* 
endeavoured to show how the vocabulary of our pupils 
may be gradually enlarged, exactly in proportion to 
their real knowledge. A great deal depends upon our 
attention to this proportion ; if children have not a suffi- 
cient number of words to make their thoughts intelli- 
gible, we cannot assist them to reason by our conver- 
sation, we cannot communicate to them the result of our 
experience ; they will have a great deal of useless la- 
bour in comparing objects, because they will not be 
able to understand the evidence of others, as they do 
not understand their language ; and at last, the reason- 
ings which they carry on in their own minds will be 
confused, for want of signs to keep them distinct. On 
the contrary, if their vocabulary exceed their ideas, if 
they are taught a variety of words to which they con- 
nect no accurate meaning, it is impossible that they 
should express their thoughts with precision. As this 
is one of the most common errors in education, we 
shall dwell upon it more particularly. 

We have pointed out the mischief which is done to 
the understanding of children by the nonsensical con- 
versation of common acquaintance.! " Should you like 
to be a king 1 What are you to be ? Are you to be a 
bishop or a judge 1 Had you rather be a general or an 
admiral, my little dear?" are some of the questions 
which every one has probably heard proposed to chil- 
dren of five or six years old. Children who have not 
learned by rote the expected answers to such interroga- 
tories, stand in amazed silence upon these occasions ; 
or else answer at random, having no possible means of 
forming any judgment upon such subjects. We have 

* See Tasks. t Chapter on Acquaintance. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 46^ 

often thought, in listening to the conversations of grown- 
up people with children, that the children reasoned in- 
finitely better than their opponents. People who are 
not interested in the education of children, do not care 
what arguments they use, what absurdities they utter, 
in talking to them ; they usually talk to them of things 
which are totally above their comprehension ; and they 
instil error and prejudice, without the smallest degree 
of compunction ; indeed, without in the least knowing 
what they are about. We earnestly repeat our advice 
to parents, to keep their children as much as possible 
from such conversation : children will never reason if 
they are allowed lo hear or to talk nonsense. 

When we say that children should not be suffered to 
talk nonsense, Ave should observe, that unless they have 
been in the habit of hearing foolish conversation, they 
very seldom talk nonsense. They may express them- 
selves in a manner which we do not understand, or they 
may make mistakes from not accurately comprehending 
the words of others ; but in these cases, we should not 
reprove or silence them ; we should patiently endeavour 
to find out their hidden meaning. If we rebuke or ridi- 
cule them, we shall intimidate them, and either lessen 
their confidence in themselves or in us. In the one 
case, we prevent them from thinking ; in the other, we 
deter them from communicating their thoughts; and 
thus we preclude ourselves from the possibility of as- 
sisting them in reasoning. To show parents the nature 
of the mistakes which children make from their imper- 
fect knowledge of words, we shall give a few examples 
from real life. 

S , at five years old, when he heard some one 

speak of hay horses, said he supposed that the bay horses 
must be the best horses. Upon crossquestioning him, 
it appeared that he was led to this conclusion by the 
analogy between the sounds of the words bay and obey, 
A few days previous to this, his father had told him that 
spirited horses were always the most ready to obey. 

These erroneous analogies between the sound of 
words and their sense, frequently mislead children in 
reasoning; we should, therefore, encourage children to 
explain themselves fully, that we may rectify their er- 
rors. 

When S was between four and five years old, a 

lady who had taken him upon her lap, playfuUj'- put her 




470 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

hands before his eyes, and (we believe) askedif hehked 

to be blinded. S said no ; and he looked very 

thoughtful. After a pause, he added, " Smellie says 
that children like better to be blinded than to have their 

legs tied." (S had read this in Smellie two or three 

days before.) 

Father. " Are you of Smellie's opinion V 

S hesitated. 

Father. "Would you rather be blinded, or have your 
legs tied ?" 

I would rather have my legs tied not quite 

" Do you know what is meant by blinded .?" 
" Having their eyes put out." 
" How do you mean V 

" To put something into the eye to make the 
blood burst out ; and then the blood would come all over 
it, and cover it, and stick to it, and hinder them from 
seeing — I don't know how." 

It is obvious that while this boy's imagination pictured 
to him a bloody orb when he heard the word blinded, he 
was perfectly right in his reasoning in preferring to have 
his legs tied ; but he did not judge of the proposition 
meant to be laid before him ; he judged of another, which 
he had formed for himself. His father explained to him 
that Smellie meant blindfolded, instead of blinded; a 
handkerchief was then tied round the boy's head, so as 
to hinder him from seeing, and he was made perfectly 
to understand the meaning of the word blindfolded. 

In such trifles as these, it may appear of little conse- 
quence to rectify the verbal errors of children ; but ex- 
actly the same species of mistake will prevent them 
from reasoning accurately in matters of consequence. 
It will not cost us much trouble to detect these mis- 
takes when the causes of them are yet recent ; but it 
will give us infinite trouble to retrace thoughts which 
have passed in infancy. When prejudices, or the habits 
of reasoning inaccurately, have been formed, we cannot 
easily discover or remedy the remote trifling origin of 
the evil. 

When children begin to inquire about causes, they are 
not able to distinguish between coincidence and causa- 
tion : we formerly observed the eff'ect which this igno- 
rance produces upon their temper ; we must now ob- 
serve its eflfect upon their understanding. A little reflec- 



M'lT AND JUDGMENT. 471 

tion upon our own minds will prevent us from feeling 
that stupid amazement, or from expressing that insult- 
ing contempt, which the natural thoughts of children 
sometimes excite in persons who have frequently less 
understanding than their pupils. What account can we 
give of the connexion between cause and effect 1 How 
is the idea that one thing is the cause of another, first 
produced in our minds ] All that we know is, that 
among human events, those which precede are in some 
cases supposed to produce what follow. When we have 
observed, in several instances, that one event constantly 
precedes another, we believe and expect that these 
events will in future recur together. Before children 
have had experience, it is scarcely possible that they 
should distinguish between fortuitous circumstances and 
causation ; accidental coincidences of time and juxta- 
position, continually lead them into error. We should 
not accuse children of reasoning ill ; we should not ima- 
gine that they are defective in judgment when they 
make mistakes from deficient experience ; we should 
only endeavour to make them delay to decide until they 
have repeated their experiments ; and, at all events, we 
should encourage them to lay open their minds to us, 
that we may assist them by our superior knowledge. 

This spring, little W (three years old) was look- 
ing at a man who was mowing the grass before the door. 
It had been raining, and when the sun-shone the vapour 
began to rise from the grass. " Does the man mowing 
make the smoke rise from the grass V said the little boy. 
He was not laughed at for this simple question. The 
man's mowing immediately preceded the rising of the 
vapour ; the child had never observed a man mowing 
before, and it was absolutely impossible that he could 
tell what eff'ects might be produced by it ; he very natu- 
rally imagined that the event which immediately pre- 
ceded the rising of the vapour, was the cause of its rise ; 
the sun was at a distance — the scythe was near the 
grass. The little boy showed, by the tone of his in- 
quiry, that he was in the philosophic state of doubt : 
had he been ridiculed for his question — had he been 
told that he talked nonsense, he would not, upon an- 
other occasion, have told us his thoughts, and he cer- 
tainly could not have improved in reasoning. 

The way to improve children in their judgment with 
respect to causation, is, to increase their knowledge and 



4*5^3 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

to lead them to try experiments by which they may dis- 
cover what circumstances are essential to the produc- 
tion of any given effect, and what are merely acces- 
sory, unimportant concomitants of the event.* 

A child who, for the first time, sees blue and red paints 
mixed together to produce purple, could not be certain 
that the palette on which these colours were mixed, the 
spatula with which they were tempered, were not neces- 
sary circumstances. In many cases, the vessels in which 
things are mixed are essential; therefore, a sensible 
child would repeat the experiment exactly in the same 
manner in which he had seen it succeed. This exact- 
ness should not be suffered to become indolent imitation, 
or superstitious adherence to particular forms. Chil- 
dren should be excited to add or deduct particulars in 
trying experiments, and to observe the effects of these 
changes. In " Chymistry" and " Mechanics" we have 
pointed out a variety of occupations, in which the judg- 
ment of children may be exercised upon the immediate 
objects of their senses. 

It is natural, perhaps, that we should expect our pu- 
pils to show surprise at those things which excite sur- 
prise in our minds ; but we should consider that almost 
every thing is new to children; and, therefore, there is 
scarcely any gradation in their astonishment. A child 
of three or four years old would be as much amused, 
and probably as much surprised, by seeing a paper kite 
fiy, as he could be by beholding the ascent of a balloon. 
We should not attribute this to stupidity or want of 
judgnj'^-nt, but simply to ignorance. 

A few days ago, W (three years old), who was 

learning his letters, was permitted to sow an o in the 

garden with mustard seed. W was much pleased 

with the operation. When the green plants appeared 

above ground, it was expected that W would be 

much surprised at seeing the exact shape of his o. 
He was taken to look at it ; but he showed no surprise, 
no sort of emotion. 

We have advised that the judgment of children should 
be exercised upon the objects of their senses. It is 
scarcely possible that they should reason upon the sub- 
jects which are sometimes proposed to them : with re- 
spect to manners and society, they have had no experi- 

* See Stewart. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 473 

ence — consequently they can form no judgments. By 
imprudently endeavouring to turn the attention of chil- 
dren to conversation that is unsuited to them, people 
may give the appearance of early intelligence, and a cer- 
tain readiness of repartee and fluency of expression ; 
but these are transient advantages. Smart, witty chil- 
dren, amuse the circle for a few hours, and are forgot- 
ten : and we may observe, that almost all children who 
are praised and admired for sprightlinessand wit, reason 
absurdly, and continue ignorant. Wit and judgment de- 
pend upon different opposite habits of the mind. Wit 
searches for remote resemblances between objects or 
thoughts apparently dissimilar. Judgment compares 
the objects placed before it, in order to find out their 
differences, rather than their resemblances. The com- 
parisons of judgment may be slow ; those of wit must 
be rapid. The same power of attention in children may 
produce either wit or judgment. Parents must decide in 
which faculty, or, rather,"in which of these habits of the 
mind, they wish their pupils to excel ; and they must 
conduct their education accordingly. Those who are 
desirous to make their pupils witty, must sacrifice some 
portion of their judgment to the acquisition of the talent 
for wit ; they must allow their children to talk fre- 
quently at random. Among a multitude of hazarded 
observations, a happy hit is now and then made : for 
these happy hits, children who are to be made wits 
should be praised ; and they must acquire sufficient 
courage to speak from a cursory view of things ; there- 
fore the mistakes they make from superficial examina- 
tion must not be .pointed out to them ; their attention 
must be turned to the comic, rather than to the serious 
side of objects ; they must study the different meanings 
and powers of words ; they should hear witty conversa- 
tion, read epigrams and comedies ; and in all company 
they should be exercised before numbers in smart dia- 
logue and repartee. 
^ .,- When we mention the methods of educating a child to 
Jl be witty, we at the same time point out the dangers of 
this education ; and it is but just to warn parents against 
expecting inconsistent qualities from their pupils. Those 
who steadily prefer the solid advantages of judgment to 
the transient brilliancy of wit, should not be mortified 
when they see their children, perhaps, deficient at nine 
or ten years old in the showy talents for general conver4 



474 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

sation ; they must bear to see their pupils appear slow ; 
they must bear the contrast of flippant gayely and sober 
simplicity ; they must pursue exactly an opposite course 
to that which has been recommended for the education 
of wits ; they must never praise their pupils for hazard- 
ing observations ; they must cautiously point out any 
mistakes that are made from a precipitate survey of ob- 
jects; they should not harden their pupils against that 
feeling of shame which arises in the mind from the per- 
ception of having uttered an absurdity ; they should 
never encourage their pupils to play upon words ; and 
their admiration of wit should never be vehemently or 
enthusiastically expressed. 

We shall give a few examples to convince parents, 
that children whose reasoning powers have been culti- 
vated, are rather slow in comprehending and in admiring 
wit. They require to have it explained, they want to 
settle the exact justice and morahty of the repartee, be- 
fore they will admire it. 

(November 20th, 1796.) To-day at dinner the con- 
versation happened to turn upon wit. Somebody men- 
tioned the well-known reply of the hackney-coachman 
to Pope. S , a boy of nine years old, listened at- 
tentively, but did not seem to understand it ; his father 
endeavoured to explain it to him. " Pope was a little, 
ill-made man ; his favourite exclamation was, ' God 
mend me !' Now, when he was in a passion with the 
hackney-coachman, he cried, as usual, ' God mend me !' 
' Mend you, sir V said the coachman ; ' it would be easier 
to make a new one.' Do you understand this now, 

s — r' 

S looked dull upon it, and, after some minutes' 

consideration, said, " Yes, Pope was ill-made ; the man 
meant it would be better to make a new one than to 
mend him." S— — did not yet seem to taste the wit; 
he took the answer literally, and understood it soberly. 

Immediately afterward, the officer's famous reply to 

Pope was told to S . About ten days after this 

conversation, S said to his sister, " I wonder, 

M , that people don't oftener laugh at crooked peo- 
ple ; like the officer who called Pope a note of inter- 
rogation." 

M . " It would be illnatured to laugh at them." 

S . " But you all praised that man for saying that 

about Pope. You did not think him illnatured." 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 475 

Mr. . " No, because Pope had been impertinent 

to him." 

>S . "Howl" 

M . " Don't you remember, that when the officer 

said that a note of interrogation would make the pas- 
sage clear, Pope turned round, and looking at him with 
great contempt, asked if he knew what a note of inter- 
rogation was V 

S . " Yes, I remember that ; but I do not think 

that was very impertinent, because Pope might not 
know whether the man knew it or not," 

Mr. . " Very true : but then you see, that Pope 

took it for granted that the officer was extremely igno- 
rant ; a boy who is just learning to read knows what a 
note of interrogation is." 

<S (thoughtfully.) " Yes, it was rude of Pope ; but 

then the man was an officer, and, therefore, it was very 
likely that he might be ignorant ; you know you said 
that officeis were often very ignorant." 

Mr. . " I said offeyi ; but not always. Young men, 

I told you, who are tired of books, and ambitious of a 
red coat, often go into the army to save themselves the 
trouble of acquiring the knowledge necessary for other 
professions. A man cannot be a good lawyer, or a good 
physician, without having acquired a great deal of knowl- 
edge ; but an officer need have little knowledge to know 
how to stand to be shot at. But though it may be true 
in genera], that officers are often ignorant, it is not 
necessary that they should be so ; a man in a red coat 
may have as much knowledge as a man in a black, or a 
blue one ; therefore, no sensible person should decide 
that a man is ignorant merely because he is an officer, 
as Pope did." 

jS . " No, to be sure. I understand now." 

M . " But, I thought, S- , you understood this 

before." 

Mr. . " He is very right not to let it pass without 

understanding it thoroughly. You are very right, S , 

not to swallow things whole ; chew them well." 

^ looked as if he was still cheAving. 

M . " What are you thinking of, S 1" 

S . " Of the man's laughing at Pope for bemg 

crooked." 

Mr. . " If Pope had not said any thing rude to 

that man, the man would have done very wrong to laugh 



476 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

at him. If the officer had walked into a coffee-house, 
and, pointing at Pope, had said, ' there's a little crooked 
thing, like a note of interrogation,' people might have 
been pleased with his wit in seeing that resemblance, 
but they would have disliked his illnature ; and those 
who knew Mr. Pope, would probably have answered, 
' Yes, sir, but that crooked little man is one of the most 
witty men in England ; he is the great poet, Mr. Pope.' 
But when Mr. Pope had insulted the officer, the case 
was altered. Now, if the officer had simply answered, 
when he was asked what a note of interrogation was, 
' a little crooked thing ;' and if he had looked at Pope 
from head to foot as he spoke these words, everybody's 
attention would have been turned upon Pope's figure ; 
but then the officer would have reproached him only for 
his personal defects : by saying, ' a httle crooked thing 
that asks questions,'' the officer reproved Pope for his im- 
pertinence. Pope had just asked him a question, and 
everybody perceived the double application of the an- 
swer. It was an exact description of a note of interro- 
gation, and of Mr. Pope. It is this sort of partial resem- 
blance quickl)'- pointed out between things, which at 
first appear very unlike, that surprises and pleases peo- 
ple, and they call it wit." 

How difficult it is to explain wit to a child ! and how 
much more difficult to fix its value and morality ! About 
a month after this conversation had passed, S re- 
turned to the charge : his mind had not been completely 
settled about ivit. 

(January 9th, 1796.) "So, S , you don't yet un- 
derstand wit, I see," said M to him, when he looked 

very grave at something that was said to him in jest. 
S immediately asked, " What is wif?" 

M answered (laughing)," Witis the folly of grown- 
up people." 

Mr. . " How can you give the boy such an an- 
swer? Come to me, my dear, and Til try if I can give 
you a better. There are two kinds of wit, one which 
depends upon words, and another which depends upon 
thoughts. I will give you an instance of wit depending 
upon words : 

" ' Hear yonder beggar, how he cries, 
I am so lame I cannot rise! 
If he tells truth, he hes.'" 



WIT AND JUDGMENT 477 

" Do you understand that V 

S . " No ! If he tells truth, he lies ! No, he cant 

both tell truth and tell a lie at the same time ; that's im- 
possible." 

Mr. . " Then there is something in the words 

which you don't understand : in the common sense of the 
words, they contradict each other ; but try if you can 
find out any uncommon sense — any word which can be 
understood in two senses." 

5 muttered the words, " If he tells truth, he lies," 

and looked indignant, but presently said, " Oh, now I un- 
derstand ; the beggar was lying down ; he lies, means 
he lies down, not, he tells a lie." 

The perception of the double meaning of the words 
did not seem to please this boy ; on the contrary, it 
seemed to provoke him ; and he appeared to think that 
he had wasted his time upon the discovery. 

Mr. . " Now I will give you an instance of wit 

that depends upon the ideas rather than on the words. 
A man of very bad character had told falsehoods of 
another, who then made these two lines : 

" ' Lie on, whilst my revenge shall be, 
To tell the very truth of thee.' " 

S approved of this immediately and heartily, and 

recollected the only epigram he knew by rote, one which 
he had heard in conversation two or three months be- 
fore this time. It was made upon a tall, stupid man, 
who had challenged another to make an epigram extem- 
pore upon him. 

" Unlike to Robinson shall be my song ; 
It shall be witty, and it shan't be long." 

At the time S first heard this epigram, he had 

been as slow in comprehending it as possible ; but after 
it had been thoroughly explained, it pleased him, and 
remained fixed in his memory. 

Mr. observed, that this epigram contained wit 

both in words and in ideas : and he gave S one 

other example. " There were two contractors ; I mean 
people who make a bargain with government, or with 
those who govern the country, to supply them with cer- 
tain things at a certain price ; there were two con- 
tractors, one of whom was employed to supply govern- 
ment with corn ; the other agreed to supply government 



478 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

with rum. Now, you know, corn may be called grain, 
and rum may be called spirit. Both these contractors 
cheated in their bargain; both their names were the 
same ; and the following epigram was made on them : 

" ' Both of a name, lo ! two contractors come ; 
One cheats in corn, and t'other cheats in rum. 
Which is the greater, if you can, explani, 
A rogue in spirit, or a rogue in grain V 

" Spirif^ continued Mr. , " has another sense, you 

know — will, intention, soul ; he has the spirit of a 
rogue; she has the spirit of contradiction. And grain 
has also another meaning ; the grain of this table, the 
grain of your coat. Died in grain, means died into the 
substance of the material, so that the die can't be washed 
out. A rogue in grain, means a man whose habit of 
cheating is fixed in his mind : and it is difficult to deter- 
mine which is the worst, a man who has the wish, or a 
man who has the habit, of doing wrong. At first it 
seems as if you were only asked which was the worst, 
to cheat in selling grain, or in selUng spirit ; but the 
concealed meaning makes the question both sense 
and wit." 

These detailed examples, we fear, may appear tire- 
some ; but we knew not how, without them, to explain 
ourselves fully. We should add, for the consolation of 
those who admire wit, and we are among the number 
ourselves, that it is much more likely that wit should 
be ingrafted upon judgment, than that judgment should 
be ingrafted upon wit. The boy whom we have just 
mentioned, who was so slow in comprehending the na- 
ture of wit, was asked whether he could think of any 
answer that Pope might have made to the officer who 
called him a note of interrogation. 

<S . " Is there any note which means answer .?" 

Mr. " I don't know what you mean." 

<S . " Any note which means answer, as like 

the note of interrogation, which shows that a question 
is asked ]" 

Mr. . " No ; but if there were, what then 1" 

-S . " Pope might have called the man that note." 

•S could not exactly explain his idea ; somebody 

who was present said, that if he had been in Pope's 
place, he would have called the officer a note of admi- 
ration. S w^ould have made this answer, if he had 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 479 

been familiarly acquainted with the name of the note of 
admiration. His judgment taught him how to set about 
looking for a proper answer ; but it could not lead him 
to the exact place, for want of experience. 

We hope that we have, in the chapter on books, fully- 
explained the danger of accustoming children to read 
what they do not understand. Poetry, they cannot early 
comprehend; and even if they do understand it, they 
cannot improve their reasoning faculty by poetic stud- 
ies. The analogies of poetry and of reasoning, are very 
different. " The muse," says an excellent judge upon 
this subject, " would make but an indifferent school- 
mistress." We include under the head of poetry, all 
books in which declamation and eloquence are substi- 
tuted for reasoning. We should accustom our pupils to 
judge strictly of the reasoning which they meet with in 
books ; no names of high authority should ever preclude 
an author's arguments from examination. 

The following passage from St. Pierre's Etudes de la 

Nature, was read to two boys ; H , fourteen years 

old ; S , ten years old. 

" Hurtful insects present (the same) oppositions and 
signs of destruction ; the gnat, thirsty of human blood, 
announces himself to our sight by the white spots with 
which his brown body is speckled ; and by the shrill 
sound of his wings, which interrupts the calm of the 
groves, he announces himself to our ear as well as to 
our eye. The carnivorous wasp is streaked like the 
tiger, with bands of black over a yellow ground." 

H and S both at once exclaimed, that these 

spots in the gnat, and streaks in the wasp, had nothing 
to do with their stinging us. " The buzzing of the gnat," 

said S , " would be a very agreeable sound to us, if 

we did not know that the gnat would sting, and that it 
was coming near us ; and as to the wasp, I remember 
stopping one day upon the stairs to look at the beauti- 
ful black and yellow body of a wasp. I did not think 
of danger, nor of its stinging me then, and I did not 
know that it was like the tiger. After I had been stung 
by a wasp, I did not think a wasp such a beautiful ani- 
mal. 1 think it is very often from our knowing that 
animals can hurt us, that we think them ugl}-. We 
might as well say," continued S , pointing to a cro- 
cus which was near him, " we might as well say, that a 
man who has a yellow face has the same disposition as 



480 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

that crocus, or that the crocus is in every thing like the 
man, because it is yellow." 

Cicero's " curious consolation for deafness" is prop- 
erly noticed by Mr. Hume. It was read to S a few 

days ago, to try whether he could detect the sophistry : 
he was not previously told what was thought of it by 
others. 

" How many languages are there," says Cicero, " which 
you do not understand ^ The Punic, Spanish, Gallic, 
Egyptian, &c. "With regard to all these, you are as if 
you were deaf, and yet you are indifferent about the 
matter. Is it then so great a misfortune to be deaf to 
one language more 1" 

" I donH think," said S , *' that was at all a good 

way to console the man, because it was putting him in 
mind that he was more deaf than he thought he was. 
He did not think of those languages, perhaps, till he was 
put in mind that he could not hear them." 

In stating any question to a child, we should avoid 
letting our own opinion be known, lest we lead or intim- 
idate his mind. We should also avoid all appearance 
of anxiety, all impatience for the answer ; our pupil's 
mind should be in a calm state when he is to judge : if 
we turn his sympathetic attention to our hopes and 
fears, we agitate him, and he will judge by our counte- 
nances rather than by comparing the objects or propo- 
sitions which are laid before him. Some people, in 
arguing with children, teach them to be disingenuous 
by the uncandid manner in which they proceed ; they 
show a desire for victory, rather than for truth ; they 
state the arguments only on their own side of the ques- 
tion, and they will not allow the force of those v.hich 
are brought against them. Children are thus piqued, 
instead of being convinced, and in their turn they be- 
come zealots in support of their own opinions ; they 
hunt only for arguments in their own favour, and they 
are mortified when a good reason is brought on the op- 
posite side of the question to that on whicli they happen 
to have enlisted. To prevent this, we should never ar- 
gue, or suffer others to argue, for victory with our pupils ; 
we should not praise them for their cleverness in find- 
ing out arguments in support of their own opinion ; but 
we should praise their candour and good sense when 
they perceive and acknowledge the force of their oppo- 
nent's arguments. They \should not be exercised as 



Wit and judgment. 491 

advocates, but as judges ; they should be encouraged to 
keep their minds impartial, to sum up the reasons which 
they have heard, and to form their opinion from these 
without regard to what they may have originally as- 
serted. We should never triumph over children for 
changing their opinion. " I thought you were on my 
side of the question ;" or, " I thought you were on the 
other side of the question just now !" is sometimes 
tauntingly said to an ingenuous child, who changes his 
opinion when he hears a new argument. You tTiink it 
a proof of his want of judgment, that he changes his 
opinion in this manner ; that he vibrates continually 
from side to side : let him vibrate, presently he will be 
fixed. Do you think it a proof that your scales are bad, 
because they vibrate with every additional weight that 
is added to either side \ 

Idle people sometimes amuse themselves with trying » 
the judgment of children, by telling them improbable, 
extravagant stories, and then asking the simple listen- 
ers whether they believe what has been told them. The 
readiness of belief in children will be always propor- 
tioned to their experience of the veracity of those with 
whom they converse ; consequently, children who live 
with those who speak truth to them, will scarcely ever 
be inclined to doubt the veracity of strangers. Such 
trials of the judgment of our pupils should never be per- 
mitted. Why should the example of lying be set before 
the honest minds of children, who are far from silly 
when they show simplicity T They guide themselves 
by the best rules, by which even a philosopher in simi- 
lar circumstances could guide himself. The things as- 
serted are extraordinary, but the children believe them^ 
because they have never had any experience of the 
falsehood of human testimony. 

The Socratic mode of reasoning is frequently prac- 
tised upon children. People arrange questions artfully* 
so as to bring them to whatever conclusion they please. 
In this mode of reasoning, much depends upon getting 
the first move ; the child has very little chance of hav- 
ing it ; his preceptor usually begins first with a peremp- 
tory voice, '* Now answer me this question !" The pu- 
pil, who knows that the interrogatories are put with a 
design to entrap him, is immediately alarmed ; and in- 
stead of giving a direct, candid answer to the question, 
is always looking forward to the possible consequences 
X 



482 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

of his reply ; or he is considering how he may evade 
the snare that is laid for him. Under these circum- 
stances, he is in imminent danger of learning the shuffling 
habits of cunning; he has little chance of learning tlie 
nature of open, manly investigation. 

Preceptors who imagine that it is necessary to put 
on very grave faces, and to use much learned apparatus 
in teaching the art of reasoning, are not nearly so likely 
to succeed as those who have the happy art of encour- 
aging children to lay open their minds freely, and who 
can make every pleasing trifle an exercise for the un- 
derstanding. If it be playfully pointed out to a child 
that he reasons ill, he smiles and corrects himself; but 
you run the hazard of making him positive in error, if 
you reprove or ridicule him with severity. It is better 
to seize the subjects that accidentally arise in conver- 
sation, than formally to prepare subjects for discussion. 

" The king's stag hounds" (says Mr. White of Sel- 
bourne, in his entertaining observations on quadrupeds),* 
" the king's stag hounds came down to Alton, attended 
by a huntsman and six yeoman prickers with horns, to 
try for the stag that has haunted Hartley-wood and its 
environs for so long a time. Many hundreds of people, 
horse and foot, attended the dogs to see the deer unhar- 
boured ; but though the huntsman drew Hartley-wood, 
and long-coppice, and Shrubwood, and Temple-hangers, 
and in their way back, Hartley, and Wardleham-hangers, 
yet no stag could be found. 

" The royal pack, accustomed to have the deer turned 
out before them, never drew the coverts with any address 
and spirit,'''' &c. 

Children who are accustomed to have the game 
started and turned out before them by their preceptors, 
may, perhaps, like the royal pack, lose their wonted ad- 
dress and spirit, and may be disgracefully at a fault in 
the public chase. Preceptors should not help their pu- 
pils out in argument ; they should excite them to explain 
and support their own observations. 

Many ladies show, in general, conversation the powers 
of easy raillery joined to reasoning, unencumbered with 
pedantry. If they would employ these talents in the 
education of their children, they would probably be as 

* A Naturalist's Calendar, by the late Rev. Gilbert White, M. A., 
published bv Dr. Aiken, printed for B. and J. White, Fleet-street. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 4S3 

Well repaid for their exertions, as they can possibly be 
by the polite, but transient applause, of the visiters to 
whom they usually devote their powers of entertaining 
A little praise or blame, a smile from a mother or a 
frown, a moment's attention or a look of cold neglect, 
has the happy or the fatal power, of repressing or of 
exciting the energy of a child, of directing his under- 
standing to useful or pernicious purposes. Scarcely a 
day passes in which children do not make some attempt 
to reason about the little events which interest them, 
and, upon these occasions, a mother who joins in con- 
versation with her children, may instruct them in the art 
of reasoning without the parade of logical disquisitions. 
Mr. Locke has done mankind an essential service, by 
the candid manner in which he has spoken of some of 
the learned forms of argumentation. A great propor- 
tion of society, he observes, are unacquainted with these 
forms, and have not heard the name of Aristotle ; yet, 
without the aid of syllogisms, they can reason suffi- 
ciently well for all the useful purposes of life, often 
much better than those who have been disciphned in 
the schools. It would indeed "be putting one man 
sadly over the head of another," to confine the reason- 
ing faculty to the disciples of Aristotle, to any sect or 
system, or to any forms of disputation. Mr. Locke has 
very clearly shown, that syllogisms do not assist the 
mind in the perception of the agreement or disagree- 
ment of ideas ; but, on the contrary, that they invert the 
natural order in which the thoughts should be placed, 
and in which they must be placed, before we can draw 
a just conclusion. To children who are not familiar- 
ized with scholastic terms, the sound of harsh words 
and quaint language, unlike any thing that they hear in 
common conversation, is alone sufficient to alarm their 
imagination with some confused apprehension of diffi- 
culty. In this state of alarm they are seldom suffi- 
ciently masters of themselves, either to deny or to 
acknowledge an adept's major, minor, or conclusion. 
Even those who are most expert in syllogistical reason- 
ing, do not often apply it to the common affairs of life, 
in which reasoning is just as much wanted as it is in the 
abstract questions of philosophy : and many argue and 
conduct themselves with great prudence and precision, 
who might, perhaps, be caught on the horns of a dilem- 
ma, or who would infallibly fall victims to the crocodile. 
X2 



484 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Young people should not be ignorant, however, of 
these boasted forms of argumentation; and it may, as 
they advance in the knowledge of words, be a useful 
exercise to resist the attacks of sophistry. No inge- 
nious person would wish to teach a child to employ 
them. As defensive weapons, it is necessary that young 
people should have the command of logical terms; as 
offensive weapons, these should never be used. They 
should know the evolutions, and be able to perform the 
exercise of a logician, according to the custom of the 
times, according to the usage of different nations ; but 
they should not attach any undue importance to this 
technical art : they should not trust to it in the day of 
battle. 

We have seen syllogisms, crocodiles, enthymems, 
sorites, &c., explained and tried upon a boy of nine or 
ten years old in playful conversation, so that he became 
accustomed to the terms without learning to be pedan- 
tic in the abuse of them ; and his quickness in reasoning 
was increased by exercise in detecting puerile sophisms ; 
such as that of the Cretans — Gorgias and his bargain 
about the winning of his first cause. In the following 
sorites* of Themistocles — " My son commands his 
mother ; his mother commands me ; I command the 
Athenians ; the Athenians command Greece ; Greece 
commands Europe ; Europe commands the whole 
earth ; therefore, my son commands the whole earth" — 
the sophism depends upon the inaccurate use of the 
commands, which is employed in different senses in the 
different propositions. This error was without diffi- 
culty detected by S at ten years old ; and we make 

no doubt that any unprejudiced boy of the same age 
would immediately point out the fallacy without hesita- 
tion ; but we do not feel quite sure that a boy exer- 
cised in logic, who had been taught to admire and rever- 
ence the ancient figures of rhetoric, would with equal 
readiness detect the sophism. Perhaps it may seem 
surprising, that the same boy, who judged so well of 
this sorites of Themistocles, should a few months before 
have been easily entrapped by the following simple 
dilemma : — 

M . " We should avoid what gives us pain." 

S . " Yes, to be sure." 

* See Deinology ; where there are many entertaining examples 
of the figures of rhetoric. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 485 

M . " Whatever burns us, gives us pain." 

5 . '■' Yes, that it does !" 

M . " We should then avoid whatever burns us." 

To this conclusion 8 heartily assented, for he had 

but just recovered from the pain of a burn. 

M . " Fire burns us." 

8 . '' Yes, I know that." 

M . " We should then avoid fire." 

5 . "Yes." 

This hasty yes was extorted from the boy by the 
mode of interrogatory ; but he soon perceived his mis- 
take. 

M. . " We should avoid fire ? What, when we are 

very cold ?" 

S . " Oh, no : I meant to say, that we should 

avoid a certain degree of fire. We should not go too 
near the fire. W^e should not go so near as to burn our- 
selves." 

Children who have but little experience, frequently 
admit assertions to be true in general, which are only 
true in particular instances ; and this is often attributed 
to their want of judgment : it should be attributed to 
their want of experience. Experience, and nothing 
else, can rectify these mistakes : if we attempt to cor- 
rect them by words, we shall merely teach our pupils 
to argue about terms, not to reason. Some of the ques- 
tions and themes which are given to boys, may afford 
us instances of this injudicious education, " Is elo- 
quence advantageous or hurtful to a state V What a 
vast range of ideas, what a variety of experience in men 
and things, should a person possess, who is to discuss 
this question ! Yet it is often discussed by unfortunate 
scholars of eleven or twelve years old. " What is the 
greatest good ?" The answer expected by a preceptor 
to this' question, obviously, is virtue ; and if a boy can, 
in decent language, write a page or two about pleasure 
being a transient, and virtue a permanent good, his 
master flatters himself that he has early taught him to 
reason philosophically. But what ideas does the youth 
annex to the words pleasure and virtue 1 Or does he 
annex any 1 If he annex no idea to the words, he is 
merely talking about sounds. 

All reasoning ultimately refers to matters of fact : to. 
judge whether any piece of reasoning is within the com- 
prehension of a child, we must consider whether the 



486 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

facts to which it refers are within his experience. The 
more we increase his knowledge of facts, the more we 
should exercise him in reasoning upon them ; but we 
should teach him to examine carefully before he admits 
any thing to be a fact, or any assertion to be true. Ex- 
periment, as to substances, is the test of truth ; and at- 
tention to his own feelings, as to n^atters of feeling. 
Comparison of the evidence of others with the general 
laws of nature, which he has learned from his own ob- 
servation, is another mode of obtaining an accurate 
knowledge of facts. M. Condill.ic, in his Art of Rea- 
soning, maintains that the evidence of reason depends 
solely upon our perception of the identity, or, to use a 
less formidable word, sameness, of one proposition with 
another. '• A demonstration,'' he says, " is only a chain 
of propositions, in which the same ideas, passing from 
one to the other, differ only because they are differently 
expressed ; the evidence of any reasoning consists 
solely in its identity." 

M. Condillac* exemplifies this doctrine by translating 
this proposition, " The measure of every triangle is the 
product of its height by half its base," into self-evident, 
or, as he calls them, identical propositions. The whole 
ultimately referring to the ideas which we have ob- 
tained by our senses of a triangle ; of its base, of 
measure, height, and number. If a child had not pre- 
viously acquired any one of these ideas, it would be in 
vain to explain one term by another, or to translate one 
phrase or proposition into another ; they might be 
identical, but they w^ould not be self-evident, proposi- 
tions to the pupil ; and no conclusion, except what re- 
lates merely to words, could be formed from such rea- 
soning. The moral which we should draw from Con- 
dillac's observations for Practical Education must be, 
that clear ideas should first be acquired by the exercise 
of the senses, and that afterward, when we reason about 
things in words, we should use few and accurate terms, 
that we may have as little trouble as possible in 
changing or translating one phrase or proposition into 
another. 

Children, if they are not overawed by authority, if 

* Une demonstration est done une suite de propositions, ou les 
monies idees, passnnt de Tune a I'antre. ne different que parce qu'elles 
sent enonces differeinnient , et I'evidence d'un r-iisormement consiste 
urjquoiaeril dans riueutite. — See Art de Raisonner, p, 2. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 487 

they are encourao^ed in the habii of observing their own 
sensations, and if they are taught precision in the use 
of the words by which they describe them, will probably 
reason accurately where their own feelings are con- 
cerned. 

In appreciating the testimony of others, and in judging 
)f chances and probability, we must not expect our 
lupils to proceed very rapidly. There is more danger 
hat they should overrate, than that they should under- 
value, the evidence of others ; because, as we formerly 
stated, we take it for granted, that they have had 
little experience of falsehood. We should, to preserve 
them from credulity, excite them in all cases where it 
can be obtained, never to rest satisfied witliout the 
strongest species of evidence, that of their own senses, 
if a child says, " 1 am sure of such a thing," we should 
inmiediately examine into his reasons for believing it. 
" Mr. A. or Mr. B. told me so," is not a sufficient cause 
of belief, unless the child has had long experience of A. 
and B.'s truth and accuracy; and, at all events, the in- 
dolent habit of relying upon the assertions of others, 
instead of verifying them, should not be indulged. 

"It would be a waste of time to repeat those experi- 
ments, of the truth of which the uniform experience of 
our lives has convinced us: we run no hazard, for in- 
stance, in believing any one who simply asserts that he 
has seen an apple fall from a tree ; this assertion agrees 
with the great natural law ofgravily, or, in other words, 
with the uniform experience of mankind : but if any- 
body told us that he had seen an apple hanging self- 
poised in the air, we should reasonably suspect the 
truth of his observation or of his evidence. This is 
the first rule which we can most readily teach our pu- 
pils in judging of evidence. We are not speaking of 
children from four to six years old, for every thing is 
almost equally extraordinary to them ; but, when chil- 
dren are about ten or eleven, they have acquired a suffi- 
cient variety of facts to form comparisons, and to judge 
to a certain degree of the probability of any new fact 
that is related. In reading and in conversation we 
should now exercise them in forming judgments, where 
"we know that they have the means of comparison. 
** Do you beheve such a thing to be true ? and why do 
you believe it? Can you account for such a thing V 
are questions we should often ask at this period of their 



488 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

education. On hearing extraordinary facts, some chil- 
dren will not be satisfied with vague assertions ; others 
content themselves with saying, " It is so, 1 read it in a 
book." We should have little hopes of those who swal- 
low every thing they read in a book ; we are always 
pleased to see a child hesitate and doubt, and require 
positive proof before he believes. The taste for the 
marvellous is strong in ignorant minds; the wish to 
account for every new appearance, characterizes the 
cultivated pupil. 

A lady told a boy of nine years old (S ) the fol- 
lowing story, which she had just met with in " The 
Curiosities of Literature." An officer, who was con- 
fined in the Bastile, used to amuse himself by playing^ 
on the flute : one day he observed, that a number of 
spiders came down from their webs, and hung round 
him as if listening to his music ; a number of mice also 
came from their holes, and retired as soon as he stop- 
ped. The ofl[icer had a great dislike to mice ; he pro- 
cured a cat from the keeper of the prison, and when 
the mice were entranced by his music, he let the cat 
out among them. 

S was much displeased by this man's treacherous 

conduct towards the poor mice, and his indignation for 
some moments suspended his reasoning faculty ; but, 

when S had sufficiently expressed his indignation 

against the officer in the affair of the mice, he began to 
question the truth of the story ; and he said that he did 
not think it was certain, that the mice and spiders came 
to listen to the music. " I do not know about the mice," 
said he, " but I think, perhaps, when the officer played 
upon the Ante, he set the air in motion, and shook the 
cobwebs, so as to disturb the spiders." We do not, nor 
did the child think, that this was a satisfactory account 
of the matter ; but we mention it as an instance of the 
love of investigation, which we wish to encourage. 

The difficulty of judging concerning the truth of evi- 
dence increases, when we take moral causes into the 
account. If we had any suspicion that a man, who told 
us that he had seen an apple fall from a tree, had him- 
self pulled the apple down and stolen it, we should set 
the probability of his telling a falsehood, and his motive 
for doing so, against his evidence ; and though, accord- 
ing to the natural physical course of things, there would 
be no improbability in his story, yet there might arise 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 489 

improbability from his character for dishonesty ; and 
thus we should feel ourselves in doubt concerning the 
fact. But if two people agreed in the same testimony, 
our doubt would vanish ; the dishonest man's doubtful 
evidence would be corroborated, and we should believe, 
notwithstanding his general character, in the truth of 
his assertion in this instance. We could make the mat- 
ter infinitely more complicated, but what has been said 
will be sufficient to suggest to preceptors the difficulty 
which their young and inexperienced pupils must feel, 
in forming judgnients of facts where physical and moral 
probabilities are in direct opposition to each other. 

We wish that a writer equal to such a task would 
write trials for children as exercises for their judgment ; 
beginning with the simplest, and proceeding gradually 
to the more complicated cases in which moral reason- 
ings can be used. We do not mean that it would be 
advisable to initiate young readers in the technical 
forms of law ; but the general principles of justice, upon 
which all law is founded, might, we think, be advan- 
tageously exemplified. Such trials would entertain 
children extremely. There is a slight attempt at this 
kind of composition, we mean in a little trial in Even- 
ings at Home ; and we have seen children read it with 
great avidity. Cyrus's judgment about the two coats, 
and the ingenious story of the olive-merchant's cause, 
rejudged by the sensible child in the Arabian Tales, have 
been found highly interesting to a young audience. 

We should prefer truth to fiction : if we could select 
any instances from real life, an}' trials suited to the 
capacity of young people, they would be preferable to 
any which the most ingenious writer could invent for 
our purpose. A gentleman who has taken his two sons, 
one of them ten and the other fifteen years old, to hear 
trials at his county assizes, found by the account which 
the boys gave of what they had heard, that they had 
been interested, and that they were capable of under- 
standing the business. 

Allowance must be made first for the bustle and noise 
of a public place, and for the variety of objects which 
distract the attention. 

Much of the readiness of forming judgments depends 
upon the power of discarding and obliterating from our 
mind all the superfluous circumstances ; it may be use- 
ful to exercise our pupils, by telling them now and then 
X3. 



490 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Stories in the confused manner in which they are some- 
times related by puzzled witnesses : let them reduce 
the heterogeneous circumstances to order, make a clear 
statement of the case for themselves, and try if they 
can point out the facts on which the decision princi- 
pally rests. This is not nierely education for a lawyer ; 
the powers of reasoning and judgment, when we have 
been exercised in this manner, may be turned to any 
art or profession. We should, if we were to try the 
judgment of children, observe, whether in unusual cir- 
cumstances they can apply their former principles, and 
compare the new objects that are placed before theni 
without perplexity. We have sometimes found, that 
on subjects entirely new to them, children who have 
been used to reason, can lay aside the circumstances 
that are not essential, and form a distinct judgment for 
themselves, independently of the opinion of others. 

Last winter the entertaining life of the celebrated 
miser Mr. Elwes was read aloud in a family, in which 
there were a number of children. Mr. Elwes, once, as 
he was lualking home on a dark night, in London, ran 
against a chair-pole and bruised both his shins. His 
friends sent for a surgeon. Elwes was alarmed at the 
idea of expense, and he laid the surgeon the amount of 
his bill, that the leg which he took under his own pro- 
tection would get well sooner than that which was put 
under the surgeon's care ; at the same time, Mr. Elwes 
promised to put nothing to the leg of which he took 
charge. Mr. Elwes's favourite leg got well sooner than 
tliat which the surgeon had undertaken to cure, and Mr. 
Elwes won his wager. In a note upon this transaction, 
his biographer says, "This wager would have been a 
bubble bet if it had been brought before the Jockey-club, 
because Mr. Elwes, though he promised to put nothing 
to tl],e leg under his own protection, took Velno's vege- 
table sirup during the time of its cure." 

C (a girl of twelve years old) observed when this 

anecdote was read, that " still the wager was a fair 
wager, because the medicine which Mr. Elwes took, if it 
was of any use, must have been of use to both legs ; 
therefore the surgeon and Mr. Elwes had equal advan- 
tage from it." C had never heard of the Jockey- 
club, or of bubble bets before, and she used the word 
medicine, because she forgot the name of Velno's vege-. 
table sirup. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 491 

We have observed,* that works of criticisin are unfit for 
children, and teach them rather to remember what others 
say of authors, than to judge of the books themselves 
impartially : but, when we object to works of criticism, 
we do not mean to object to criticism ; we think it an 
excellent exercise for the judgment, and we have our- 
selves been so well corrected, and so kindly assisted, by 
the observations of young critics, that we cannot doubt 
their capacity. This book has been read to a jury of 
young critics, who gave their utmost attention to it for 
about half an hour at a sitting, and many amendments 
have been made from their suggestions. In the chapter 
on Obstinacy, for instance, when we were asserting 
that children sometimes forget their old bad habits, and 
do not consider these as a part of themselves, there was 
this allusion : — 

" As the snake, when he casts his skin, leaves the 
slough behind him, and winds on his way in new and 
beautiful colours." 

The moment this sentence was read, it was objected 

to by the audience. Mr. objected to the word 

slough, as an ill-sounding, disagreeable word, which 
conveyed at first to the eye the idea of a wet, boggy 

place ; such as the Slough of Despond. At last S , 

who had been pondering over the affair in silence, ex- 
claimed, " But I think there's another fault in the al- 
lusion ; do not snakes cast their skins every year 1 
Then these new and beautiful colours, which are the 
good habits, must be thrown aside and forgotten the 
next time ; but that should not be." 

This criticism appeared conclusive even to the author, 
and the sentence was immediately expunged. 

When young people have acquired a command of lan- 
guage, we must be careful lest their fluency and their 
ready use of synonymous expressions should lessen the 
accuracy of their reasoning. Mr. Home Tooke has 
ably shown the connexion between the study of lan- 
guage and the art of reasoning. It is not necessary to. 
make our pupils profound grammarians or etymologists ; 
but attention to the origin, abbreviations, and various 
meanings of words, will assist them not only to speaks 
but to think and argue, with precision. This is not a 
study of abstract speculation, but of practical, daily 

* See Chapter on Books. 



492 PRACTICAL EDUCATiay. 

utility ; half the disputes, and much of the misery of the 
world, originate and perpetuate themselves by the inac- 
curate use of words. One party uses a word in this 
sense, the opposite party uses the same word in another 
sense ; all their reasonings appear absurd to each other; 
and, instead of explaining them, they quarrel. This is 
not the case merely in philosophical disputes between 
authors, but it happens continually in the busy, active 
scenes of life. Even while we \\ex& writing this pas- 
sage, in the newspaper of to-day we met with an in- 
stance that is, sufficiently striking. 

"The accusation against me," says Sir Sidney Smith, 
in his excellent letter to Pichegru, expostulating upon 
his unmerited confinement, " brought forward by your 
justice of the peace, was, that I was the enemy of the 
republic. You know, general, that with military men, 
the word enemy has merely a technical signification, 
without expressing the least character of hatred. You 
will readily admit this principle, the result of which is, 
that I ought not to be persecuted for the injury I 
have been enabled to do while I carried arms against 
you." 

Here the argument of two generals, one of whom is 
pleading for his liberty, if not for his life, turns upon the 
meaning and construction of a single word. Accuracy 
of reasoning and some knowledge of language may, it 
appears, be of essential service in all professions. 

It is not only necessary to attend to the exact mean- 
ing which is avowedly affixed to any terms used in argu- 
ment, but it is also useful to attend to the thoughts which 
are often suggested to the disputants by certain words. 
Thus, the words happiness and beauty suggest, in con- 
versation, very different ideas to different men ; and in 
arguing concerning these, they could never come to a 
conclusion. Even persons who agree in the same defi- 
nition of a word, frequently do not sufficiently attend to 
the ideas which the word suggests ; to the association 
of thoughts and emotions which it excites ; and con- 
sequently they cannot strictly abide by their own defi- 
nition, nor can they discover where the error lies. We 
have observed* that the imagination is powerfully af- 
fected by words that suggest long trains of ideas ; our 
reasonings are influenced in the same manner, and the 

* See Chapter on Imagination. 



WIT AND JUDGMENT. 493 

elliptical figures of speech are used in reasoning as well 
as in poetry. 

" I would do so and so, if I were Alexander." 

" And so would I, if 1 were Parmenio ;" 
is a short reply, which suggests a number of ideas and 
a train of reasoning. To those who cannot supply the 
intermediate ideas, the answer would not appear either 
sublime or rational. Young people, when they appear to 
admire any compressed reasoning, should be encouraged 
to show that they can supply the thoughts and reasons 
that are not expressed. Vivacious children will be dis- 
gusted, however, if they are required to detail upon the 
subject ;* all that is necessary is, to be sure that they 
actually comprehend what they admire. 

Sometimes a question that appears simple^ involves 
the consideration of others which are difficult. When- 
ever a preceptor cannot go to the bottom of the business, 
he will do wisely to say so at once to his pupil, instead of 
attempting a superficial or evasive reply. For instance, 
if a child were to hear that the Dutch burn and destroy 
quantities of spice, the produce of their Indian islands, 
he would probably express some surprise, and perhaps 
some indignation. If a preceptor were to saj'^, " The 
Dutch have a right to do what they please with what is 
their own, and the spice is their own," his pupil would 
not yet be satisfied ; he would probably say, " Yes, they 
have a right to do what they please with what is their 
own; but why should they destroy what is useful?" 
The preceptor might answer, if he chose to make a 
foolish answer, " The Dutch follow their own interest in 
burning the spice ; they sell what remains at a higher 
price ; the market would be overstocked if they did not 
burn some of their spice." Even supposing the child 
to understand the terms, this would not be a satisfac- 
tory answer ; nor could a satisfactory answer be given, 
without discussing the nature of commerce andthey^.?- 
iice of monopolies. Where one question in this manner 
involves another, we should postpone the discussion, if 
it cannot be completely made ; the road may be just 
pointed out, and the pupil's curiosity may be excited to 
future inquiry. It is even better to be ignorant than to 
have superficial knowledge. 

A philosopher who himself excelled in accuracy of 

* See Attention. 



494 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

reasoning, recommends the study of mathematics, to 
improve the acuteness and precision of the reasoning 
faculty.* To study any thing accurately, will have an 
excellent effect upon the mind ; and we may afterward 
direct the judgment to whatever purposes we please. 
It has often been remarked, as a reproach upon men 
of science and literature, that those who Judge ex- 
tremely well of books and of abstract philosophical 
questions, do not show the same judgment in the ac- 
tive business of life : a man undoubtedly may be a good 
mathematician, a good critic, an excellent writer, and 
may yet not show, or, rather, not employ, much judg- 
ment in his conduct ; his powers of reasoning cannot be 
deficient ; the habit of employing those powers in con- 
ducting himself, he sliould have been taught by early 
education. Moral reasoning and the habit of acting in 
consequence of the conviction of the judgment, we call 
prudence ; a virtue of so much consequence to all the 
other virtues ; a virtue of so much consequence to our- 
selves and to our friends, that it surely merits a whole 
chapter to itself in Practical Education. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



ON PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 



VoLTATRE says that the King of Prussia always wrote 
with one kind of enthusiasm, and acted with another. 
It often happens that men judge with one degree of un- 
derstanding, and conduct themselves with another;! 
hence the commonplace remarks on the difference be- 
tween theory and practice; hence the observation, that 
it is easy to be prudent for other people, but extremely 
difficult to be prudent for ourselves. Prudence is a vir- 

* Locke. Essay on the Conduct of the Human Understanding, 
t *' Here lies the mutton-eating king, 
W.hose promise none relied on ; 
Who never said a foolish thing, 
And never did a wise one." 

Epitaph on Charles Second. 



ON PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 495 

tue compounded of jud<rment and resolution: we do not 
here speak of lliat narrow species of prudence which is 
more properly called worldly wisdom ; but we mean 
that enlarged, comprehensive wisdom, which, after 
taking a calm view of the objects of happiness, steadily 
prefers the greatest portion of felicity. This is not a 
selfish virtue ; for, according to our definition, benevo- 
lence, as one of the greatest sources of our pleasures, 
must be included in the truly prudent man's estimate. 
Two things are necessary to make any person prudent, 
— the povver to judge, and the habit of acting in conse- 
quence of his conviction. We have, in the preceding 
chapter, as far as we were able, suggested the best 
njethods of cultivating the powers of reasoning in our 
pupils; we must consider now how these can be applied 
immediately to their conduct, and associated with habits 
of action. 

Instead of deciding always for our young pupils, we 
irhould early accustom them to choose for themselves 
about every trifle v.-hich is interesting to childhood ; if 
they choose wisely, they should enjoy the natural re- 
ward of their prudence; and if they decide rashly, they 
should be suffered to feel the consequence of their ov/n 
error. Experience, it is said, makes even fools wise ; 
and the sooner we can give experience, the sooner we 
shall teach wisdom. But we must not substitute belief 
upon trust for belief upon conviction. When a little 
boy says, "1 did not eat anymore custard, because 
mamma told me that the custard would make me sick," 
he is only obedient, he is not prudent ; he submits to 
his mother's judgment, he does not use his own. When 
obedience is out of the question, children sometimes 
follow the opinions of others ; of this we formerly gave 
an instance (see Toys) in the poor boy who chose a 
gilt coach, because his mamma " and everybody said it 
icas the frettiest^' while he really preferred the useful 
cart : v/e should never prejudice them, either by our 
xoisdom or our folly. 

A sensible little boy of four years old had seen some- 
body telling fortunes in the grounds of coffee ; but when 
he had a cup of coffee given to him, he drank it all, say- 
ing, " Coffee is better than fortune !" 

When their attention is not turned to divine what the 
spectators think and feel, children will have leisure to 
consult their own minds, and to compare their own feel- 



496 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ings. As this has been already spoken of,* we shall 
not dwell upon it ; we only mention it as a necessary 
precaution in teaching prudence. 

Some parents may perhaps fear, that if they were to 
allow children to choose upon every trifling occasion 
for themselves, they would become wilful and trouble- 
some : this certainly will be the effect, if we make them 
think that there is a pleasure in the exercise of freewill, 
independent of any good that may be obtained by judi- 
cious choice. " Now, my dear, you shall have your 
choice ! You shall choose for yourself! You shall have 
your free choice !" are expressions that may be pro- 
nounced in such a tone, and with such an emphasis, to 
a child, as immediately to excite a species of triumphant 
ecstasy from the mere idea of having his own free 
choice. By a different accent and emphasis we may 
repress the ideas of triumph, and without intimidating 
the pupil, may turn his mind to the difficulties rather 
than the glory of being in a situation to decide for him- 
self. 

We must not be surprised at the early imprudence of 
children ; their mistakes, when they first are allowed to 
make a choice, are inevitable ; all their sensations are 
new to them — consequently they cannot judge of what 
they shall like or dislike. If some of Lord Macartney's 
suite had, on his return from the late embassy to China, 
brought home some plant whose smell was perfectly un- 
known to Europeans, would it have been possible for the 
greatest philosopher in England to decide, if he had been 
asked, whether he should like the unknown perfume ? 
Children, for the first five or six years of their lives, are 
in the situation of this philosopher, relatively to external 
objects. We should never reproachfully say to a child, 
*' You asked to smell such a thing; you asked to see 
such a thing; and now you have had your wish, you 
don't like them !" How can the child possibly judge 
of what he shall like or dislike, before he has tried ? 
Let him try experiments upon his own feelings ; the 
more accurate knowledge he acquires, the sooner he 
will be enabled to choose prudently. You may expedite 
his progress by exciting him to compare each new sen- 
sation with those to which he is already familiarized; 
this will counteract that love of novelty which is often 

* See Taste and Imagination. 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 497 

found dangerous to prudence ; if the mind is employed 
in comparmg, it cannot be dazzled by new objects. 

Children often imagine, that what they like for the 
present minute they shall continue to like for ever ; they 
have not learned from experiment, that the most agree- 
able sensations fatigue, if they are prolonged or fre- 
quently repeated ; they have not learned, that all vio- 
lent stmiuli are followed by weariness or ennui. The 
sensible preceptor will not insist upon his pupil's know- 
ing these things by inspiration, nor will he expect that 
his assertions or prophecies should be implicitly be- 
lieved ; he will wait till the child feels, and at that mo- 
ment he will excite his pupil to observe his own feel- 
ings. " You thought that you should never be tired of 
smelling that rose, or of looking at that picture ; now 
you perceive that you are tired : remember this ; it may 
be of use to you another time." If this be said in a 
friendly manner, it will not pique the child to defend his 
past choice, but it will direct his future judgment. 

Young people are often reproached for their impru- 
dence in preferring a small present pleasure to a large 
distant advantage : this error also arises from inexpe- 
rience, not from want of judgment, or deficiency in 
strength of mind. When that which has been the fu- 
ture has, in its turn, become present, children begin to 
have some idea of the nature of time, and they can then 
form some comparisons between the value of present 
and future pleasure. This is a very slow process ; old 
people calculate and depend upon the distant future 
more than the young, not always from their increased 
wisdom or prudence, but merely from their increased 
experience, and consequent belief that the future will in 
time arrive. It is imprudent in old people to depend 
upon the future ; if they were to reason upon the chance 
of their lives, they ought not to be secure of its arrival ; 
yet habit in this instance, as in many others, is more 
powerful than reason ; in all the plans of elderly people, 
there is seldom any error from impatience as to the fu- 
ture ; there often appear gross errors in their security 
as to its arrival. If these opposite habits could be 
mixed in the minds of the old and of the young, it would 
be for their mutual advantage. 

It is not possible to infuse experience into the mind ; 
our pupils must feel for themselves : but, by teaching 
them to observe their own feelings, we may abridge 



498 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

their labour ; a few lessons will teach a great deal, when 
they are properly appHed. To teach children to calcu- 
late and compare their present and future pleasures, we 
may begin by fixing short intervals of time for our ex- 
periments ; an hour, a day, a week, perhaps, are periods 
of time to which their imagiuation will easily extend; 
they can measure and compare their feelings within 
these spaces of time, and we may lead them to observe 
their own errors in not providing for the future. " Now 
Friday is come ; last Monday you thought Friday would 
never come. If you had not cut away all your pencil 
last week, you would have had some left to draw with 
to-day. Another time you will manage better." 

We should also lead them to compare their ideas of 
any given pleasure before and after the period of its ar- 
rival. " You thought last summer that you should like 
making snowballs in winter, better than making hay in 
summer. Now you have made snowballs to-day : and 
you remember what you felt when you were making 
hay last summer; do you like the snowball pleasure or 
the hay-making pleasure, the best?" See Berquin's 
Quatre Saisons. 

If our pupils, when they have any choice to make, 
prefer a small present gratification to a great future 
pleasure, we should not, at the moment of their decis- 
ion, reproach their imprudence, but we should steadily 
make them abide by their choice; and when the time ar- 
rives at which the greater pleasure might have been en- 
joyed, we should remark the circumstance, but not with 
a tone of reproach, for it is their alfair, not ours. " You 
preferred having a sheet of paper the moment you 
wanted it last week, to having a quire of paper this 
week." — " Oh, but," says the child, " I wanted a sheet 
of paper very much then, but I did not consider how 
soon this week would come — I wish I had chosen the 
quire." — "Then remember what you feel now, and you 
will be able to choose better upon another occasion." 
We should always refer to the pupil's own feelings, and 
look forward to their future advantage. The reason 
why so few young people attend to advice is, that their 
preceptors do not bring it actually home to their feel- 
ings ; it is useless to reproach for past imprudence ; the 
child sees the error as plainly as we do : all that can be 
done, is to make it a lesson for the future. 

To a geometrician, the words, by proposition^ 1st, stand 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 499 

for a whole demonstration : if he recollects that he has 
once gone over the demonstration, he is satisfied of its 
truth ; and, without verifying- it again, he makes use of 
it in making out the demonstration of a new proposition. 
In moral reasoning, we proceed in the same manner; 
we recollect the result of our past experiments, and we 
refer to this moral demonstration in solving a new prob- 
lem. In time, by frequent practice, this operation is 
performed so rapidly by the mind that we scarcely per- 
ceive it, and yet it guides our actions. A man, in 
walking across the room, keeps out of the v/ay of the 
tables and chairs, without perceiving that he reasons 
about the matter ; a sober man avoids hard drinking, 
because he knows it to be hurtful to his health ; but he 
does not, every time he refuses to drink, go over the 
whole train of reasoning which first decided his deter- 
mination. A modern philosopher* calls this rapid spe- 
cies of reasoning "intuitive analogy;" applied to the 
business of life, fhe French call it tact. Sensible peo- 
ple have this tact in higher perfection than others ; and 
prudent people govern themselves by it more regularly 
than others. By the methods vshich we have recom- 
mended, we hope it may be successfully cultivated in 
early education. 

Rousseau, in expressing his contempt for those who 
make habii their only guide of action, goes, as he is apt 
to do in the heat of declamation, into the error opposite 
to that which he ridicules. "The only habit," says he, 
" that I wish my Emilius to have, is the habit of having 
no habits." Emilius would have been a strange being, 
had he literally accomplished his preceptor's wish. To 
go up stairs, would have been a most operose, and to go 
down stiars, a most tremendous affair to Emilius, for he 
was to have no habits : between every step of the stairs, 
new deliberations must take place, and fresh decisions 
of the judgment ensue. In his moral judgments, Emil- 
ius would have had as much useless labour. Habit 
surely is necessary, even to those who make reason the 
ultimate judge of their affairs. Reason is not to be ap- 
pealed to upon every trivial occasion, to rejudge the 
same causs a million of times. Must a man, every 
time he draws a straight line, repeat to himself, "a 
right line is that which lieth evenly between its points V 

* Darwin's Zoonoraigi. 



500 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Must he rehearse the propositions of Euclid, instead of 
avaihng himself of their practical use] 

" Christian, canst thou raise a perpendicular upon a 
straight line "?" is the apostrophe with which the cross- 
legged emperor of Barbary, seated on his throne of 
rough deal boards, accosts every learned stranger who 
frequents his court. In the course of his reign, proba- 
bly, his Barbaric majesty may have reiterated the dem- 
onstration of this favourite proposition, which he 
learned from a French surgeon, about five hundred 
times ; but his majesty's understanding is not materially 
improved by these recitals ; his geometrical learning is 
confined, we are told, to this single proposition. 

It would have been scarcely worth while to single out 
for combat this paradox of Rousseau's concerning habit, 
if it had not presented itself in the formidable form of 
an antithesis. A false maxim, conveyed in an antithe- 
sis, is dangerous, because it is easily remembered and 
repeated, and it quickly passes current in conversation. 

But to return to our subject, of which we have imp7-u- 
dently lost sight. Imprudence does not always arise 
from our neglect of our past experience, or from our 
forgetting to take the future into our calculations, but 
from false associations, or from passion. Objects often 
appear different to one man, from what they do to the 
rest of the world : this man may reason well upon what 
the majority of reasonable people agree to call false ap- 
pearances ; he may follow strictly the conviction of his 
own understanding, and yet the world will say that he 
acts very imprudently. To the taste or smell of those 
who are in a fever, objects not only appear, but really 
are, different from what they appear to persons in sound 
health : in the same manner to the imagination, objects 
have really a different value in moments of enthusiasm, 
from what they have in our cooler hours, and we 
scarcely can believe that our view of objects will ever 
vary. It is in vain to oppose reason to false associa- 
tions : we must endeavour to combat one set of associa- 
tions by another, and to alter the situation, and conse- 
quently the views,* of the mistaken person. Suppose, 
for instance, that a child had been in a coach and six 
upon some pleasant excursion (it is an improbable thing, 
but we may suppose any thing) : suppose a child had 

* Chapter on Imagination. 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 501 

enjoyed, from some accidental circumstances, an extra- 
ordinary degree of pleasure in a coach and six, he might 
afterward long to be in a similar vehicle, from a mista- 
ken notion that it could confer happiness. Here we 
should not oppose the force of reasoning to a false as- 
sociation, but we should counteract the former associa- 
tion. Give the child an equal quantity of amusement 
when he is not in a coach and six, and then he will form 
fresh pleasurable associations with other objects, which 
may balance his first prepossession. If you oppose 
reason ineffectually to passion or taste, you bring the 
voice and power of reason into discredit with your pupil. 
When you have changed his view of things, you may 
then reason with him, and show him the cause of his 
former mistake. 

In the excellent fable of the shield that was gold on 
one side and silver on the other, the two disputants 
never could have agreed until they changed places. — 
When you have, in several instances, proved by experi- 
ment, that you judge more prudently than your pupil, he 
will be strongly inclined to listen to your counsels, and 
then your experience will be of real use to him ; he will 
argue from it with safety and satisfaction. When, after 
recovering from fits of passion or enthusiasm, you have, 
upon several occasions, convinced him that your admo- 
nitions would have prevented him from the pain of re- 
pentance, he will recollect this when he again feels the 
first rise of passion in his mind ; and he may, in that 
lucid moment, avail himself of your calm reason, and 
thus avoid the excesses of extravagant passions. That 
unfortunate French monarch,* who was liable to tem- 
porary fits of phrensy, learned to foresee his approaching 
malady, and often requested his friends to disarm him, 
lest he should injure any of his attendants. 

In a malady which precludes the use of reason, it was 
possible for this humane patient to foresee the probable 
mischief he might do to his fellow-creatures, and to take 
prudent measures against his own violence ; and may 
not we expect, that those who are early accustomed to 
attend to their own feelings, may prepare against the 
extravagance of their own passions, and avail them- 
selves of the regulating advice of their temperate 
friends ? 

* Charles VI. 



302 PRACTICAL EDUCATION". 

Ill the education of girls, we must teach them much 
more caution than is necessary to boys : their prudence 
must be more the result of reasoning than of experi- 
ment ; they must trust to the experience of others ; they 
cannot always have recourse to what ought to be ; they 
must adapt themselves to what is. They cannot rectify 
the material mistakes in their conduct.* Timidity, a 
certain tardiness of decision, and reluctance to act in 
public situations, are not considered as defects in a 
woman's character : her pausing prudence does not, to 
a man of discernment, denote imbecility ; but appears 
to him the graceful, auspicious characteristic of female 
virtue. There is always more probability that women 
should endanger their own happiness by precipitation 
than by forbearance. Promptitude of choice is sel- 
dom expected from the female sex ; they should avail 
themselves of the leisure that is permitted to them for 
reflection. " Begin nothing of which you have not 
well considered the end," was the piece of advice for 
which the Eastern sultanf paid a purse of gold, the 
price set upon it by a sage. The monarch did not re- 
pent of his purchase. This maxim should be engraved 
upon the memory of our female pupils, by the repeated 
lessons of education. We should, even in trifles, avoid 
every circumstance wliich can tend to make girls ven- 
turesome ; which can encourage them to trust their 
good fortune, instead of relying on their own prudence. 
Marmonters tale, entitled ''' Heureusement,'''' is a witty, 
but surely not a moral tale. Girls should be discouraged 
from hazarding opinions in general conversation ; but 
among their friends, they should be excited to reason 
with accuracy and with temper. | It is really a part of 
a woman's prudence to have command of temper ; if she 
has it not, her wit and sense will not have their just 
value in domestic life. Calphurnia, a Roman lady, used 
to plead her own causes before the senate, and we are 
informed, that she became " so troublesome and confi- 
dent, that the judges decreed that thenceforward no 
woman should be suffered to plead." Did not this lady 
make an imprudent use of her talents ? 

In the choice of friends, and on all matters of taste, 

* *' No penance can absolve their guilty fame, 

Nor tears, that wash out sin, can wash out shame." 
t See Persian Tales. + See Chapter on Temper. 



PRt'DENCE AND ECONOMY. 503 

young women should be excited to reason about their 
own feeling-s. " There is no reasoning- about taste," is 
a pernicious maxim : if there were more reasoning, 
there would be less disputation upon this subject. If 
women questioned their own minds, or allowed their 
friends to question them, concerning the reasons of their 
'• preferences and aversions," there would not, probably, 
be so many love-matches, and so few love-marriages. 
It is in vain to expect that young women should begin 
to reason miraculously, at the very moment that reason 
is wanted in the guidance of their conduct. We should 
also observe, that women are called upon for the exer- 
tion of their prudence, at an age when young men are 
scarcely supposed to possess that virtue ; therefore, 
women should be more early and more carefully edu- 
cated for the purpose. The important decisions of 
woman's life are often made before she is twenty : a 
man does not come upon the theatre of public life, 
where most of his prudence is shown, till he is much 
older. 

Economy is, in women, an essential domestic virtue. 
Some women have a foolish love of expensive baubles ; 
a taste which a very little care, probably, in their early 
education, might have prevented. We are told that 
when a collection of three hundred and fifty pounds was 
made for the celebrated Cuzzona, to save her from ab- 
solute want, she immediately laid out two hundred 
pounds of the money in the purchase of a shell cap, 
w'hich was then in fashion.* Prudent mothers will 
avoid showing any admiration of pretty trinkets before 
their young daughters ; and they will oppose the ideas of 
utility and durability to the mere caprice of fashion, which 
creates a taste for beauty, as it were, by proclamation. 
" Such a thing is pretty, but it is of no use. Such a 
thing is pretty, but it will soon wear out" — a mother 
may say ; and she should prove the truth of her asser- 
tions to her pupils. 

Economy is usually confined to the management of 
money, but it may be shown on man}'- other occasions : 
economy may be exercised in taking care of whatever 
belongs to us ; children should have the care of their 
own clothes, and if they are negligent of what is in 
their charge, this negligence should not be repaired by 

* Mrs. Piozzi'6 English Synonomy, vol. 1. p. 359. 



B04 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

servants or friends ; they should feel the real natural 
consequences of their own neglect, but no other punish- 
ment should be inflicted ; and they should be left to 
make their own reflections upon their errors and mis- 
fortunes, undisturbed by the reproaches of their friends, 
or by the prosing moral of a governess or preceptor. 
We recommend, for we must descend to these trifles, 
that girls should be supplied with an independent stock 
of all the little things which are in daily use ; house- 
wives and pocketbooks, well stored with useful imple- 
ments ; and there should be no lending* and borrow- 
ing among children. It will be but just to provide 
our pupils with convenient places for the preserva- 
tion and arrangement of their little goods. Order is 
necessary to economy ; and we cannot more certainly 
create a taste for order, than by showing early its ad- 
vantages in practice as well as in theory. The aversion 
to old things should, if possible, be prevented in chil- 
dren : we should not express contempt for old things, 
but we should treat them with increased reverence, and 
exult in their having arrived under our protection to 
such a creditable age. " I have had such a hat so long, 
therefore it does not signify what becomes of it !" is the 
speech of a promising little spendthrift. " I have taken 
care of my hat, it has lasted so long ; and I hope I shall 
make it last longer," is the exultation of a young econ- 
omist, in which his prudent friends should sympathize. 

*' Waste not, want not," is an excellent motto in an 
English nobleman's kitchen. f The most opulent parents 
ought not to be ashamed to adopt it in the economic 
education of their children : early habits of care, and an 
early aversion and contempt for the selfish spirit of 
wasteful extravagance, may preserve the fortunes, and, 
what is of far more importance, the integrity and peace 
of mind, of noble families. 

We have said that economy cannot be exercised with- 
out children's having the management of money. While 
our pupils are young, if they are educated at home, they 
cannot have much real occasion for money ; all the ne- 
cessaries of life are provided for them ; and if they have 
money to spend, it must be probably laid out on super- 
fluities. This is a bad beginning. Money should be 
represented to our pupils as what it really is, the con- 

* See Toys. f Lord Scarsdale's. Keddleston. 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 505 

ventional sign of the value of commodities : before chil- 
dren are acquainted with the real and comparative value 
of any of these commodities, it is surely imprudent to 
trust them vi^ith money. As to the idea that children 
may be charitable and generous in the disposal of money, 
we have expressed our sentiments fully upon this sub- 
ject already.* We are, however, sensible, that when 
children are sent to any school, it is advisable to supply 
them with pocket-money enough to put them upon an 
equal footing with their companions; otherwise, we 
might run the hazard of inducing worse faults than ex- 
travagance — meanness, or envy. 

Young people who are educated at home should, as 
much as possible, be educated to take a family interest 
m all the domestic expenses. Parental reserve in money 
matters is extremely impolitic ; as Mr. Locke judiciously 
observes, that a father who wraps his affairs up in mys- 
tery, and who " views his son with jealous eyes," as a 
person who is to begin to live when he dies, must make 
him an enemy by treating him as such. A frank sim- 
plicity and cordial dependance upon the integrity and 
upon the sympathy of their children, will ensure to pa- 
rents their disinterested friendship. Ignorance is al- 
ways more to be dreaded than knowledge. Young peo- 
ple who are absolutely ignorant of aifairs, who have no 
idea of the relative expense of different modes of living, 
and of the various wants of a family, are apt to be ex- 
tremely unreasonable in the imaginary disposal of their 
parent's fortune ; they confine their view merely to their 
own expenses. " I orily spend such a sum," they say, 
" and surely that is nothing to my father's income." 
They consider only the absolute amount of what they 
spend ; they cannot compare it with the number of other 
expenses which are necessary for the rest of the family : 
they do not know these, therefore they cannot perceive 
the proportion which it is reasonable that their expen- 
diture should bear to the whole. Mrs. D'Arblay, in one 
of her excellent novels, has given a striking picture of 
the ignorance in which young women sometimes leave 
their father's house, and begin to manage in life for 
themselves, without knowing any thing of the poivers 
of money. Camilla's imprudence must chiefly be as- 
cribed to her ignorance. Young women should be ac- 

» See Chapter on Sympathy and Sensibility. 



506 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

customed to keep the family accounts, and their aritb* 
metic should not be merely a speculative science ; they 
should learn the price of all necessaries, and of all lux- 
uries ; they should learn what luxuries are suited to their 
fortune and rank, what degree of expense in dress is 
essential to a regularly neat appearance, and what must 
be the increased expense and temptations of fashion in 
different situations; they should not be suffered to im- 
agine that they can resist these temptations more than 
others, if they get into company above their rank ; nor 
should they have any indistinct idea, that by some won- 
derful economical operations they can make a given 
sum of money go farther than others can do. The steadi- 
ness of calculation will prevent all these vain notions; 
and young women, when they see in stubborn figures 
what must be the consequence of getting into situations 
where they must be tempted to exceed their means, 
will probably begin by avoiding, instead of braving, the 
danger. 

Most parents think that their sons are more disposed 
to extravagance than their daughters ; the sons are 
usually exposed to greater temptations. Young men 
excite each other to expense, and to a certain careless- 
ness of economy, which assumes the name of spirit, 
while it often forfeits all pretensions to justice. A 
prudent father will never, from any false notions of 
forming his son early to good company, introduce him 
to associates whose only merit is their rank or their 
fortune. Such companions will lead a weak young man 
into every species of extravagance, and then desert and 
ridicule him in the hour of distress. If a young man 
has a taste for literature and for rational society, his 
economy will be secured, simply because his pleasures 
will not be expensive ; nor will they be dependant upon 
the caprice of fashionable associates. The intermediate 
state between that of a schoolboy and a man, is the 
dangerous period in which taste for expense is often 
acquired before the means of gratifying it are obtained. 
Boys listen with anxiety to the conversation of those 
who are a few years older than themselves. From this 
conversation they gather information respecting the 
ways of the world, which, though often erroneous, they 
tenaciously believe to be accurate ; it is in vain that 
their older friends may assure them that such and such 
frivolous expenses are not necessary to the wellbeing 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY. 507 

of a man in society ; they adhere to the opinion of the 
younger counsel ; they conclude that every thing has 
changed since their parents were young, that they must 
not govern themselves by antiquated notions, but by the 
scheme of economy which happens to be the fashion of 
the day. During this boyish state, parents should be 
particularly attentive to the company which their sons 
keep; and they should frequently, in conversation with 
sensible, but not with morose or oldfashioned people, - 
lead to the subject of economy, and openly discuss and 
settle the most essential points. At the same time, a 
father should not intimidate his son with the idea that 
nothing but rigid economy can win his parental favour ; 
his parental favour should not be a mercenary object ; 
he should rather show his son that he is aware of the 
great temptations to which a young man is exposed in 
going first into the world : he should show him, both 
that he is disposed to place confidence in him, and that 
he yet knows the fallibility of youthful prudence. If he 
expect from his son unerring prudence, he expects too 
much ; and he will, perhaps, create an apprehension of 
his displeasure, which may chill and repress all in- 
genuous confidence. In all his childish, and in all his 
youthful distresses, a son should be habitually inclined 
to turn to his father as to his most indulgent friend. 
" Apply to me if ever you get into any difficulties, and 
you will always find me your most indulgent friend," 
were the words of a father to a child of twelve years 
old, pronounced with such encouraging benevolence, 
that they v/ere never forgotten by the person to whom 
they were addressed. 

Before a young man goes into the world, it will be 
a great advantage to him to have some share in the 
management of his father's affairs ; by laying out money 
for another person, he will acquire habits of care, which 
will be useful to him afterward in his own affairs. A 
father who is building, or improving grounds, who is 
carrying on works of any sort, can easily allot some 
portion of the business to his son, as an exercise for 
his judgment and prudence. He should hear and see 
the estimates of workmen, and he should, as soon as 
he has collected the necessary facts, form estimates 
of his own before he hears the calculation of others; 
this pov^er of estimating will be of great advantage to 
gentlemen : it will circumscribe their wishes, and it 
Y2 



508 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

will protect them against the low frauds of designing 
workmen. 

It may seem trivial, but we cannot forbear to advise 
young people to read the newspapers of the day regu- 
larly : they will keep up by these means with the cur- 
rent of affairs, and they will exercise their judgment 
upon interesting business and large objects. The sooner 
boys acquire the sort of knowledge necessary for the 
conversation of sensible men, the better ; they will be 
the less exposed to feel false shame. False shame, the 
constant attendant upon ignorance, often leads young 
men into imprudent expenses ; when, upon any occa- 
sion, they do not knov/ by any certain calculation to 
what any expense may amount, they are ashamed to 
inquire minutely. From another sort of weakness, they 
are ashamed to resist the example or importunity of 
numbers ; against this weakness, the strong desire of 
preserving the good opinion of estimable friends, is the 
best preservative. The taste for the esteem of supe- 
rior characters, cures the mind of fondness for vulgar 
applause. 

We have, in the very first chapter of this book, 
spoken of the danger of the passion for gaming ; and 
the precautions that we have recommended in early 
education will, it is hoped, prevent the disorder from 
appearing in our pupils as they grow up. Occupations 
for the understanding, and objects for the affections, 
will preclude all desire for the violent stimulus of the 
gaming-table. It may be said, that many men of supe- 
rior abilities, and of generous, social tempers, become 
gamesters. They do so because they have exhausted 
other pleasures, and they have been accustomed to 
strong excitements. Such excitements do not be- 
come necessary to happiness till they have been made 
habitual. 

There was an excellent Essay on Projects published 
some years ago by an anonymous writer, which we 
think would make a great impression upon any young 
persons of good sense. We do not wish to repress the 
generous, enterprising ardour of youth, or to confine the 
ideas to the narrow circle of which self must be the 
centre. Calculation will show what can be done, and 
how it can be done ; and thus the individual, without 
injury to himself, may,, if he wish it, speculate exten- 
sively for the good of his fellow-creatures. 



PRUDENCE AND ECONOMY 509 

It is scarcely possible that the mean passion of avarice 
should exist in the mind of any young person who has 
been tolerably well educated ; but too much pains can- 
not be taken to preserve that domestic felicity which 
arises from entire confidence and satisfaction among 
the individuals of a family with regard to property. 
Exactness in accounts and in business relative to prop- 
erty, far from being unnecessary among friends and 
relations, is, we think, peculiarly agreeable, and essen- 
tial to the continuance of frank intimacy. We should, 
while our pupils are young, teach them a love for ex- 
actness about property ; a respect for the rights of 
others, rather than a tenacious anxiety about their own. 
When young people are of a proper age to manage 
money and property of their own, let them know pre- 
cisely what they can annually spend ; in whatever form 
they receive an income, let that income be certain : if 
presents of pocket-money or of dress are from time to 
time made to them, this creates expectation and uncer- 
tainty in their minds. All persons who have a fluctu- 
ating revenue are disposed to be imprudent and extrav- 
agant. It is remarkable that the West-Indian planters, 
whose property is a kind of lottery, are extravagantly 
disposed to speculation ; in the hopes of a favourable 
season, they live from year to year in unbounded pro- 
fusion. It is curious to observe, that the propensity to 
extravagance exists in those who enjoy the greatest 
affluence, and in those who have felt the greatest dis- 
tress. Those who have little to lose are reckless about 
that little ; and any uncertainty as to the tenure of 
property, or as to the rewards of industry, immediately 
operates, not only to depress activity, but to destroy 
prudence. " Prudence," says Mr. Edwards, " is a term 
that has no place in the negro vocabulary ; instead of 
trusting to what are called the ground provisions, which 
are safe from the hurricanes, the negroes, in the culti- 
vation of their oivn lands, trust more to plantain-groves, 
corn, and other vegetables that are liable to be destroyed 
by storms. When they earn a little money, they im- 
mediately gratify their palate with salted meats and 
other provisions, which are to them delicacies. The 
idea of accumulating, and of being economic in order to 
accumulate, is unknown to these poor slaves, who hold 
their lands by the most uncertain of all tenures."* We 

* See Edwards's History of the West Indies. 



510 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

are told that the provision ground, the creation of the 
negro's industry, and the hope of his life, is sold by 
public auction to pay his master's debts. Is it wonder- 
ful that the term prudence should be unknown in the 
negro vocabulary '? 

The very poorest class of people in London, who feel 
despair, and who merely live to bear the evil of the 
day, are, it is said, very little disposed to be prudent. 
In a late publication, Mr. Colquhoun's " Treatise on the 
Police of the Metropohs," he tells us, that the " chief 
consumption of oysters, crabs, lobsters, pickled salmon, 
&c., when first in season, and when the prices arehigh, 
is by the loivest classes of the people. The middle 
ranks, and those immediately under them, abstain gen- 
erally from such indulgences until the prices are mod- 
erate."* 

Perhaps it may be thought that the consumption of 
oysters, crabs, and pickled salmon, in London, or the 
management of the negro's provision ground in Jamaica, 
has little to do with a practical essay upon economy 
and prudence ; but we hope that we may be permitted 
to use these farfetched illustrations, to show that the 
same causes act upon the mind independently of cli- 
mate : they are mentioned here to show that the little 
revenue of young people ought to be fixed and certain. 

When we recommend economy and prudence to our 
pupils, we must, at the same time, keep their hearts 
open to the pleasures of generosity ; economy and 
prudence will put it in the power of the generous to 
give. 

" The worth of any thing 
Is as much money as 'twill bring," 

will never be the venal maxim of those who understand 
the nature of philosophic prudence. The worth of 
money is to be estimated by the number of real pleas- 
ures which it can procure : there are many which are not 
to be bought by gold ;f these will never lose their pre- 
eminent value with persons who have been educated 
both to reason and to feel. 

"^ See a note in page 32 of the Treatise on the Police of the Me- 
tropolis. 

I " Turn from the glittering bribe your scornful eye, 
Nor sell for gold what gold can never buy." 

Johnson'' s London. 



SUMMARY. 511 



CHAPTER XXV. 

SUMMARY. 

" The general principle," that we should associate 
pleasure with whatever we wish that our pupils should 
pursue, and pain with whatever we wish that they 
should avoid, forms, our readers will perceive, the basis 
of our plan of education. This maxim, applied to the 
cultivation of the understanding or of the affections, 
will, we apprehend, be equally successful; virtues, as 
well as abilities, or what is popularly called genius, we 
believe to be the result of education, not the gift of na- 
ture. A fond mother will tremble at the idea, that so 
much depends upon her own care in the early education 
of her children ; but, even though she may be inexpe- 
rienced in the art, she may be persuaded that patience 
and perseverance will ensure her success : even from 
her timidity we may prophesy favourably ; for, in educa- 
tion, to know the danger, is often to avoid it. The first 
steps require rather caution and gentle kindness, than 
any difficult or laborious exertions : the female sex are, 
from their situation, their manners, and talents, pecu- 
liarly suited to the superintendence of the early years 
of childhood. We have, therefore in the first chapters 
of the preceding work, endeavoured to adapt our re- 
marks principally to female readers, and we shall think 
ourselves happy if any anxious mother feels their prac- 
tical utility. 

In the chapters on Toys, Tasks, and Attention, we 
have attempted to show how the instruction and amuse- 
ments of children may be so managed as to coincide 
with each other. Play, we have observed, is only a 
change of occupation : and toys, to be permanently 
agreeable to children, must afford them continual em- 
ployment. We have declared war against tasks, or 
rather against the train of melancholy privations and 
constraints which, associated with this word, usually 
render it odious to the ears of the disgusted scholar. 
By kind patience, and well-timed, distinct, and above 



512 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

all, by short lessons, a young child may be initiated in 
the mysteries of learning, and in the first principles of 
knowledge, without fatigue, or punishment, or tears. 
No matter how little be learned in a given time, pro- 
vided the pupil be not disgusted ; provided the wish to 
improve be excited, and the habits of attention be ac- 
quired. Attention we consider as the faculty of the 
mind which is essential to the cultivation of all its other 
powers. 

It is essential to success in what are called accom- 
plishments, or talents, as well as to our progress in the 
laborious arts or abstract sciences. Believing so much 
to depend upon this faculty or habit, we have taken par- 
ticular pains to explain the practical methods by which 
it may be improved. The general maxims, that the at- 
tention of young people should at first be exercised but 
for very short periods ; that they should never be urged 
to the point of fatigue ; that pleasure, especially the 
great pleasure of success, should be associated with the 
exertions of the pupil ; are applicable to children of all 
tempers. The care which has been recommended, in 
the use of words, to convey uniformly distinct ideas, 
will, it is hoped, be found advantageous. We have, 
without entering into the speculative question concern- 
ing the original differences of temper and genius, offered 
such observations as we thought might be useful in cul- 
tivating the attention of vivacious and indolent children; 
whether their idleness or indolence proceed from na- 
ture, or from mistaken modes of instruction, we have 
been anxious to point out means of curing their defects ; 
and, from our successful experience with pupils appa- 
rently of opposite dispositions, we have ventured to 
assert with some confidence, that no parent should de- 
spair of correcting a child's defects : that no preceptor 
should despair of producing in his pupil the species of 
abilities which his education steadily tends to form. 
These are encouraging hopes, but notllatteringpromises. 
Having just opened these bright views to parents, we have 
paused to warn them that all their expectations, all their 
cares, will be in vain, unless they have sufficient pru- 
dence and strength of mind to follow a certain mode of 
conduct with respect to servants and with respect to com- 
mon acquaintance. More failures in private education 
have been occasioned by the interference of servants and 
acquaintance, than from any other cause. It is impossible, 



SUMMARY. 613 

we repeat it in the strongest terms, it is impossible that 
parents can be successful in the education of their chil- 
dren at home, unless they have steadiness enough to 
resist all interference from visiters and acquaintance, 
who from thoughtless kindness, or a busy desire to ad- 
minister advice, are apt to counteract the views of a 
preceptor ; and who often, in a few minutes, undo the 
work of years. When our pupils have formed their 
habits, and have reason and experience sufficient to 
guide them, let them be left as free as air; let them 
choose their friends and acquaintance ; let them see the 
greatest variety of characters, and hear the greatest 
variety of conversation and opinions : but while they 
are children, while they are destitute of the means to 
judge, their parents or preceptors must supply their 
deficient reason ; and authority, without violence, should 
direct them to their happiness. They must see, that 
all who are concerned in their education, agree in the 
means of governing them ; in all their commands and 
prohibitions, in the distribution of praise and blame, of 
reward and punishment, there must be unanimity. 
Where there does not exist this unanimity in famihes ; 
where parents have not sufficient firmness to prevent 
the interference of acquaintance, and sufficient prudence 
to keep children /7'om all private communication loith ser- 
vants, we earnestly advise that the children be sent to 
some public seminary of education. We have taken 
some pains to detail the methods by which all hurtful 
communications between children and servants, in a 
well-regulated family, may be avoided, and we have as- 
serted, from the experience of above twenty years, 
that these methods have been found not only practicable, 
but easy. 

In the chapters on Obedience, Temper, and Truth, 
the general principle, that pleasure should excite to ex- 
ertion and virtue, and that pain should be connected 
with whatever we wish our pupils to avoid, is applied 
to practice with a minuteness of detail which we knew 
not how to avoid. Obedience we have considered as a 
relative, rather than as a positive, virtue : before chil- 
dren are able to conduct themselves, their obedience 
must be rendered habitual : obedience alters its nature 
as the pupil becomes more and more rational ; and the 
only method to secure the obedience, the willing, en- 
lightened obedience, of rational beings, is to convince 
Y3 



514 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Ihem, by experience, that it tends to their happiness. 
Truth depends upon example more than precept ; and 
we have endeavoured to impress it on the minds of all 
who are concerned in education, that the first thing 
necessary to teach their pupils to love truth, is in their 
whole conduct to respect it themselves. We have rep- 
robated the artifices sometimes used by preceptors 
towards their pupils ; we have shown that all confidence 
is destroyed by these deceptions. May they never more 
be attempted ! May parents unite in honest detestation 
of these practices ! Children are not fools, and they are 
not to be governed like fools. Parents who adhere to 
the firm principle of truth, may be certain of the respect 
and confidence of their children. Children who never 
see the example of falsehood, will grow up with a sim- 
plicity of character, with an habitual love of truth, that 
must surprise preceptors who have seen the propensity 
to deceit vi'hich early appears in children who have had 
the misfortune to live with servants, or with persons 
who have the habits of meanness and cunning. We 
have advised that children, before their habits are 
formed, should never be exposed to temptations to de- 
ceive ; that no questions should be asked them which 
hazard their young integrity ; that as they grow older, 
they should gradually be trusted ; and that they should 
be placed in situations where they may feel the advan- 
tages both of speaking truth, and of obtaining a charac- 
ter for integrity. The perception of the utility of this 
virtue to the individual and to society, will confirm the 
habitual reverence in which our pupils have been taught 
to hold it. As young people become reasonable, the 
nature of their habits and of their education should be 
explained to them ; and their virtues, from being virtues 
of custom, should be rendered virtues of choice and 
reason. It is easier to confirm good habits by the con- 
viction of the understanding, than to induce habits in 
consequence of that conviction. This principle we 
have pursued in the chapter on Rewards and Punish- 
ments ; we have not considered punishment as ven- 
geance or retaliation, but 3.s pain inflicted with the reasoji- 
ahle hope of p7-ocuring some future advantage to the delin- 
quent or to society. The smallest possible quantity of 
pain that can effect this purpose, we suppose, must, with 
all just and humane persons, be the measure of punish- 
ment. This notion of punishment, both for the sake 



SUMMARY. 515 

of the preceptor and pupil, should be clearly explained 
as early as it can be made intelligible. As to rewards, 
we do not wish that they should- be bribes ; they should 
stimulate, without weakening the mind. The conse- 
quences which naturally follow every species of good 
conduct, are the proper and best rewards that we can 
devise ; children whose understandings are cultivated 
and whose tempers are not spoiled, will be easily made 
happy without the petty bribes which are administered 
daily to ill-educated, ignorant, over-stimulated, and, con- 
sequently, wretched and ill-humoured children. Far 
from making childhood a state of continual penance, 
restraint, and misery, we wish that it should be made a 
state of uniform happiness ; that parents and preceptors 
should treat their pupils with as much equality and kind- 
ness as the improving reason of children justifies. The 
views of children should be extended to their future ad- 
vantage,* and they should consider childhood as a part 
of their existence, not as a certain number of years 
which must be passed over before they can enjoy any 
of the pleasures of life, before they can enjoy any of 
the privileges of groiun-up people. Preceptors should 
not accustom their pupils to what they call indulgence, 
but should give them the utmost degree of present pleas- 
ure which is consistent with their future advantage. 
Would it not be folly and cruelty to give present pleas- 
ure at the expense of a much larger portion of future 
pain 1 When children acquire experience and reason, 
they rejudge the conduct of those who have educated 
them ; and their confidence and their gratitude will be 
in exact proportion to the wisdom and justice with which 
they have been governed. 

It was necessary to explain at large these ideas of re- 
wards and punishments, that we might clearly see our 
way in the progress of education. After having deter- 
mined that our object is to obtain for our pupils the 
greatest possible portion of felicity ; after having ob- 
served that no happiness can be enjoyed in society with- 
out the social virtues, without the useful and the agree- 
able qualities ; our view naturally turns to the means of 
forming these virtues, of ensuring these essential quali- 
ties. On our sympathy with our fellow-creatures de- 
pend many of our social virtues ; from our ambition to 

* Emiiius. 



516 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

excel our competitors, arise many of our most useful 
and agreeable actions. We have considered these prin- 
ciples of action as they depend on each other, and as 
they are afterward separated. Sympathy and sensibil- 
ity, uninformed by reason, cannot be proper guides to 
action. We have endeavoured to show how sympathy 
may be improved into virtue. Children should not see 
the deformed expression of the malevolent passions in 
the countenances of those who live with them : before 
the habits are formed, before sympathy has any rule to 
guide itself, it is necessarily determined by example. 
Benevolence and affectionate kindness from parents to 
children, first inspire the pleasing emotions of love and 
gratitude. Sympathy is not able to contend with pas- 
sion or appetite : we should therefore avoid placing 
children in painful competition with one another. We 
love those from whom we receive pleasure. To make 
children fond of each other, we must make them the 
cause of pleasure to each other ; we must place them 
io situations where no passion or appetite crosses their 
natural sympathy. We have spoken of the difference 
between transient, convivial sympathy, and that higher 
species of sympathy which, connected with esteem, 
constitutes friendship. We have exhorted parents not 
to exhaust imprudently the sensibility of their children ; 
not to lavish caresses upon their infancy, and cruelly to 
withdraw their kindness when their children have 
learned to expect the daily stimulus of affection. The 
idea of exercising sensibility we have endeavoured to 
explain, and to show that if we require premature grati- 
tude and generosity from young people, we shall only 
teach them affectation and hypocrisy. We have slightly 
touched on the dangers of excessive female sensibility, 
and have suggested that useful, active employments, and 
the cultivation of the reasoning faculty, render sym- 
pathy and sensibility more respectable, and not less 
graceful. 

In treating of vanitj^ pride, and ambition, we have 
been more indulgent to vanity than our ■proud readers will 
approve. We hope, how^ever, not to be misunderstood : 
we hope that we shall not appear to be admirers of that 
mean and ridiculous foible, which is anxiously concealed 
by all who have any desire to obtain esteem. W^e can- 
not, however, avoid thinking it is a contradiction to in- 
spire young people with a wish to excel, and at the same 



SUMMARY. 517 

time to insist upon their repressing all expressions of 
satisfaction if they succeed. The desire to obtain the 
good opinion of others, is a strong motive to exertion : 
this desire cannot be discriminative in children before 
they have any knowledge of the comparative value of 
different qualities, and before they can estimate the con- 
sequent value of the applause of different individuals. 
We have endeavoured to show how, from appealing at 
first to the opinions of others, children may be led to 
form judgments of their own actions, and to appeal to 
their own minds for approbation. The sense of duty 
and independent self-complacency, may gradually be 
substituted in the place of weak, ignorant vanity. There 
is not much danger that young people whose under- 
standings are improved, and who mix gradually with 
society, should not be able to repress those offensive 
expressions of vanity or pride which are disagreeable 
to the feelings of the " impartial spectators." We 
should rather let the vanity of children find its own 
level, than attempt any artificial adjustments ; they will 
learn propriety of manners from observation and expe- 
rience ; we should have patience with their early, un- 
civilized presumption, lest we, by premature restraints, 
check the energy of the mind, and induce the cold, fee- 
ble vice of hypocris3^ In their own family, among the 
friends whom they ought to love and esteem, let chil- 
dren, with simple, unreserved vivacity, express the good 
opinion they have of themselves. It is infinitely better 
that they should be allowed this necessary expansion 
of self-complacency in the company of their superiors, 
than that it should be repressed by the cold hand of au- 
thority, and afterward be displayed in the company of 
inferiors and sycophants. We have endeavoured to dis- 
tinguish between the proper and improper use of praise 
as a motive in education : we have considered it a stim- 
ulus which, like all other excitements, is serviceable or 
pernicious, according to the degree in which it is used, 
and the circumstances in which it is applied. 

While we have thus been examining the general 
means of educating the heart and the understanding, we 
have avoided entering minutely into the technical meth- 
ods of obtaining certain parts of knowledge. It was 
essential, in the first place, to show how the desire of 
knowledge was to be excited ; what acquirements are 
most desirable, and how they are to be most easily ob- 



618 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

tained, are the next considerations. In the chapter on 
Books — Classical Literature and Grammar — Arithmetic 
and Geometry — Geography and Astronomy — Mechan- 
ics and Chymistry — we have attempted to show how a 
taste for literature may early be infused into the minds 
of children, and how the rudiments of science, and some 
general principles of knowledge, may be acquired, with- 
out disgusting the pupil, or fatiguing him by unceasing 
application. We have, in speaking of the choice of 
books for children, suggested the general principles by 
which a selection may be safely made ; and by minute, 
but we hope not invidious criticism, we have illustrated 
our principles so as to make them practically useful. 

The examination of M. Condillac's Cours d'Etude was 
meant to illustrate our own sentiments, more than to 
attack a particular system. Far from intending to de- 
preciate this author, we think most highly of his abili- 
ties ; but we thought it necessary to point out some 
practical errors in his mode of instruction. Without ex- 
amples from real life, we should have wandered, as 
many others of far superior abilities have already wan- 
dered, in the shadowy land of theory. 

In our chapters on Grammar, Arithmetic, Mechanics, 
Chymistry, &c., all that we have attempted has been to 
recall to preceptors the difficulties which they once ex- 
perienced, and to trace those early footsteps which time 
insensibly obliterates. How few possess, hke Faruknaz 
in the Persian tale, the happy art of transfusing their 
own souls into the bosoms of others ! 

We shall not pity the reader whom we have dragged 
through Garretson's Exercises, if we can save one trem- 
bling little pilgrim from that " slough of despond." We 
hope that the patient, quiet mode, of teaching classical 
literature, which we have found to succeed in a few in- 
stances, may be found equally successful in others ; we 
are not conscious of having exaggerated, and we sin- 
cerely wish that some intelligent, benevolent parents, 
may verify our experiments upon their own children. 

The great difficulty which has been found in attempts 
to instruct children in science, has, we apprehend, arisen 
from the theoretic manner in which preceptors have 
proceeded. The knowledge that cannot be immediately 
applied to use, has no interest for children, has no hold 
upon their memories ; they may learn the principles of 
mechanics, or geometry, or chymistry ; but if they have 



SUMMARY. 519 

no means of applying their knowledge, it is quickly for- 
gotten, and nothing but the disgust connected with the 
recollection of useless labour remains in the pupil's 
mind. It has been our object in treating of these sub- 
jects, to show how they may be made interesting to 
young people ; and for this purpose we should point out 
to them, in the daily, active business of life, the practi- 
cal use of scientific knowledge. Their senses should 
be exercised in experiments, and these experiments 
should be simple, distinct, and apphcable to some object 
in which our pupils are immediately interested. We 
are not sohcitous about the quantity of knowledge that 
is obtained at any given age, but we are extremely anx- 
ious that the desire to learn should continually increase, 
and that whatever is taught should be taught with that 
perspicuity which improves the general understanding. 
If the first principles of science are once clearly under- 
stood, there is no danger that the pupil should not, at any 
subsequent period of his life, improve his practical skill, 
and increase his knowledge to whatever degree he 
thinks proper. 

We have hitherto proceeded without discussing the 
comparative advantages of public or private education. 
Whether children are to be educated at home or to be 
sent to public seminaries, the same course of education, 
during the first years of their lives, should be pursued ; 
and the preparatory care of parents is essential to the 
success of the public preceptor. We have admitted the 
necessity of public schools, and, in the present state of 
society, we acknowledge that many parents have it not 
in their power properly to superintend the private edu- 
cation of a family. We have earnestly advised parents 
not to attempt private education without first calcu- 
lating the difliculties of the undertaking ; we have 
pointed out that, by co-operating with the public in- 
structor, parents may assist in the formation of their 
children's characters, without undertaking the sole man- 
agement of their classical instruction. A private edu- 
cation, upon a calm survey of the advantages of both 
systems, we prefer, because more is in the power of the 
private than of the public instructer. One uniform 
course of experience may be preserved, and no exam- 
ples but those which we wish to have followed, need be 
seen by those children who are brought up at home. 
When we give our opinion in favour of private educa- 



620 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

tion, we hope that all we have said on servants and on 
acquaintance will be full in the reader's recollection. 
No private education, we repeat it, can succeed without 
perfect unanimity, consistency, and steadiness, among 
all the individuals in the family. 

We have recommended to parents the highest liber- 
ality as the highest prudence, in rewarding the care of 
enlightened preceptors. Ye great and opulent parents, 
condescend to make your children happy : provide for 
yourselves the cordial of domestic affection against 
" that sickness of long life — old age." 

In what we have said of governesses, masters, and 
the value of female accomplishments, we have con- 
sidered not only what is the fashion of to-day, but 
rather what is likely to be the fashion of ten or twenty 
3'ears hence. Mothers will look back, and observe how 
much the system of female education has altered within 
their own memory ; and they will see, with " the pro- 
phetic eye of taste," what may probably be the fashion 
of another spring — another race.* We have endeav- 
oured to substitute the words domestic happiness instead 
of the present terms, " success in the world — fortunate 
establishments," &c. This will lead, perhaps, at first, 
to some confusion in the minds of those who have been 
long used to the old terms ; but the new vocabulary has 
its advantages ; the young and unprejudiced will, per- 
haps, perceive them, and maternal tenderness will calcu- 
late with more precision, but not with less eagerness, 
the chances of happiness according to the new and old 
tables of interest. 

Sectary-metaphysicians, if any of this description 
should ever deign to open a book that has a practical 
title, will, we fear, be disappointed in our chapters on 
Memory — Imagination and Judgment. They will not 
find us the partisans of any system, and they will prob- 
ably close the volume with supeicilious contempt. We 
endeavour to console ourselves by tlie hope, that men 
of sense and candour will be more indulgent, and will 
view with more complacency an attempt to collect from 
all metaphysical writers, those observations which can 
be immediately of practical use in education. Without 
any pompous pretensions, Ave have given a sketch of 
what we have been able to understand and ascertain of 

^ "Another spring, anotlier race- supplies." — Pope's Homer. 



SUMMARY. 621 

the history of the mind. On some subjects, the wisest of 
our readers will at least give us credit for knowing that 
we are ignorant. 

We do not set that high value upon Memory, which 
some preceptors are inclined to do. From all that we 
have observed, we believe that few people are naturally 
deficient in this faculty ; though in many it may have 
been so injudiciously cultivated as to induce the spec- 
tators to conclude, that there was some original defect 
in the retentive power. The recoUective power is less 
cultivated than it ought to be, by the usual modes of 
education ; and this is one reason why so few pupils 
rise above mediocrity. They lay up treasures for 
moths to corrupt; they acquire a quantity of knowl- 
edge, they learn a multitude of words by rote, and they 
cannot produce a single fact, or a single idea, in the 
moment when it is wanted : they collect, but they can- 
not combine. We have suggested the means of culti- 
vating the inventive faculty at the same time that we 
store the memory ; we have shown, that on the order 
in which ideas are presented to the mind, depends the 
order in which they will recur to the memory ; and we 
have given examples from the histories of great men 
and little children, of the reciprocal assistance which 
the memory and the inventive powers afford each other. 

In speaking of Taste, it has been our wish to avoid 
prejudice and affectation. We have advised that chil- 
dren should early be informed that the principles of 
taste depend upon casual, arbitrary, variable associa- 
tions. This v/ill prevent our pupils from falling into- 
the vulgar error of being amazed and scandalized at the 
tastes of other times and other nations. The beauties 
of nature and the productions of art, which are found to 
be most generally pleasing, we should associate with 
pleasure in the mind : but we ought not to expect that 
children should admire those works of imagination 
which suggest, instead of expressing, ideas. Until 
children have acquired the language, until they have 
all the necessary trains of ideas, many of the finest 
strokes of genius in oratory, poetry, and painting, must 
to them be absolutely unintelligible. 

In a moral point of view, we have treated of the false 
associations which have early influence upon the ima- 
gination, and produce the furious passions and miserable 
vices. The false associations which first inspire the 



623 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

young and innocent mind with the love of wealth, of 
power, or what is falsely called pleasure, are pointed 
out; and some practical hints are offered to parents, 
which it is hoped may tend to preserve their children 
from these moral insanities. 

We do not think that persons who are much used to 
children, will quarrel with us for what we have said of 
early prodigies of wit. People who merely talk to 
children for the amusement of the moment, may admire 
their " lively nonsense," and will probably think the 
simplicity of the mind that we prefer, downright stu- 
pidity. The habit of reasoning is seldom learned by 
children who are much taken notice of for their 
sprightly repartees ; but we have observed that children, 
after they have learned to reason, as they grow up and 
become acquainted with the manners and customs of 
the world, are by no means deficient in talents for con- 
versation, and in that species of wit which depends 
upon the perception of analogy between ideas, rather 
than a play upon words. At all events, we would rather 
that our pupils should be without the brilliancy of wit, 
than the solid and essential power of judgment. 

To cultivate the judgment of children, we must begin 
by teaching them accurately to examine and compare 
such external objects as are immediately obvious to 
their senses ; when they begin to argue, we must be 
careful to make them explain their terms and abide by 
them. In books and conversation, they must avoid all 
bad reasoning, nor should they ever be encouraged in 
the quibbling habit of arguing for victory. 

Prudence we consider as compounded of judgment 
and resolution. When we teach children to reflect upon 
and compare their own feelings, when we frequently 
give them their choice in things that are interesting to 
them, we educate them to be prudent. We cannot 
teach this virtue until children have had some expe- 
rience ; as far as their experience goes, their prudence 
may be exercised. Those who reflect upon their own 
feelings, and find out exactly what it is that makes them 
happy, are taught wisdom by a very few distinct les- 
sons. Even fools, it is said, grow wise by experience, 
but it is not until they grow old under her rigid dis- 
cipline. 

Economy is usually understood to mean prudence in 
the management of money : we have used this word in 



SUMMARY. ' 623 

a more enlarged sense. Children, we have observed, 
may be economic of any thing that is trusted to their 
charge ; until they have some use for money, they need 
not be troubled or tempted with it : if all the necessa- 
ries and conveniences of life are provided for them, 
they must spend whatever is given to them as pocket- 
money, in superfluities. This habituates them early to 
extravagance. We do not apprehend that young people 
should be intrusted with money, till they have been 
some time used to manage the money business of 
others. They may be taught to keep the accounts of a 
family, from which they will learn the price and value 
of different commodities. All this, our readers will 
perceive, is nothing more than the application of the 
different reasoning powers to different objects. 

We have thus slightly given a summary of the chap- 
ters in the preceding work, to recall the whole in a con- 
nected view to the mind; a few simple principles run 
through the different parts ; all the purposes of practical 
education tend to one distinct object ; to render our 
pupils good and wise, that they may enjoy the greatest 
possible share of happiness at present and in future. 

Parental care and anxiety, the hours devoted to the 
instruction of a family, will not be thrown away ; if 
parents have the patience to wait for their reward, that 
reward will far surpass their most sanguine expecta- 
tions : they will find in their children agreeable com- 
panions, sincere and affectionate friends. Whether 
they live in retirement or in the busy world, they will 
feel their interest in life increase, their pleasures multi- 
plied by sympathy with their beloved pupils ; they will 
have a happy home. How much is comprised in that 
single expression ! The gratitude of their pupils will 
continually recall to their minds the delightful reflec- 
tion, that the felicity of their whole family is their 
work ; that the virtues and talents of their children are 
the necessary consequences of good education. 



524 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 



NOTEvS, 



CONTAINING CONVERSATIONS AND ANECDOTES OF CHIL- 
DREN. 

Several years ago a mother,* who had a large family 
to educate, and who had turned her attention with much 
solicitude to the subject of education, resolved to write 
notes from day to day of all the trifling things which 
mark the progress of the mind in childhood. She was 
of opinion, that the art of education should be con- 
sidered as an experimental science, and that many au- 
thors of great abilities had mistaken their road by fol- 
lowing theory instead of practice. The title of " Prac- 
tical Education,'''' was chosen by this lady, and prefixed to 
a little book for children, which she began, but did not 
live to finish. The few notes which remain of her 
writing are preserved, not merely out of respect to her 
memory, but because it is thought that they may be use- 
ful. Her plan of keeping a register of the remarks of 
children, has at intervals been pursued in her family ; a 
number of these anecdotes have been interspersed in 
this work ; a few, which did not seem immediately to 
suit the didactic nature of any of our chapters, remain, 
and with much hesitation and diffidence are offered to 
the public. We have selected such anecdotes as may 

* Mrs. Honora Edgeworth, daughter of Edward Sneyd, Esq. of 
Litchfield. As this lady's name has been mentioned in a monody on 
the death of Major Andre, we take this opportunity of correcting a 
mistake that occurs in a note to that performance. 

" Till busy rumour chas'd each pleasing dream, 
And quench'd the radiance of the silver beam." 

Monody 07i Major Andre- 
The note on these lines is as follows : — 

"The tidings of Honora's marriage. Upon that event Mr. Andr6 
quilted his profession as a merchant, and joined our army in America." 
Miss Honora Sneyd was married to Mr. Edgeworth in July, 1773. 
and the date of Major Andre's first commission in the Welch Fusi- 
liers IS March 4th, 1771. 



APPENDIX. 525 

in some measure illustrate the principles that we have 
endeavoured to establish ; and we hope, that from these 
trifling but genuine conversations of children and pa- 
rents, the reader will distinctly perceive the difference 
between practical and theoretic education. As some 
farther apology for offering them to the public, we 
recur to a passage in Dr. Reid's* Essays, which en- 
courages an attempt to study minutely the minds of 
children. 

" If we could obtain a distinct and full history of all that 
hath passed in the mind of a child from the beginning of 
life and sensation till it grows up to the use of reason, 
how its infant faculties began to work, and how they 
brought forth and ripened all the various notions, opin- 
ions, and sentiments, which we find in ourselves when 
we come to be capable of reflection, this would be a 
treasure of natural history which would probably give 
more light into the human faculties, than all the sys- 
tems of philosophers about them, from the beginning 
of the world." 

The reader, we hop8,vi'ill not imagine that we think we 
can present him with this treasure of natural history ; we 
have only a few scattered notices, as Bacon would call 
them, to offer : perhaps, even this slight attempt may 
awaken the attention of persons equal to the under- 
taking : if able preceptors and parents would pursue a 
similar plan, we might, in time, hope to obtain a full his- 
tory of the infant mind. 

It may occur to parents, that writing notes of the re- 
marks of children would lessen their freedom and sim- 
plicity in conversation ; this would certainly be the case 
if care were not taken to prevent the pupils from think- 
ing of the notebook.^ The following notes were never 
seen by the children who are mentioned in them ; and 
though it was in general known in the family that such 
notes were taken, the particular remarks that were 
written down, were never known to the pupils : nor was 
any curiosity excited upon this subject. The attempt 
would have been immediately abandoned, if we had per- 
ceived that it produced any bad consequences. The 



* This has been formerly quoted in the preface to the Parent's 
Assistant. 

t The anecdotes mentioned in the precerfiug- pages, were read to the 
children with the rest of the work. 



526 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

simple language of childhood has been preserved without 
alteration in the following notes ; and as we could not 
devise any better arrangement, we have followed the 
order of time, and we have constantly inserted the ages 
of the children, for the satisfaction of preceptors and 
parents, to whom alone these infantine anecdotes can be 
interesting : We say nothing farther as to their accuracy : 
if the reader does not see in the anecdotes themselves 
internal marks of veracity, all we could say would be 
of no avail. 

X (a girl of five years old) asked why a piece of 

paper fell quickly to the ground when rumpled up, and 
why so slowly when opened. 

Y (a girl of three years and a half old), seeing her 

sister taken care of and nursed when she had chilblains, 
said that she wished to have chilblains. 

Z (a girl between two and three), when her mother 

was putting on her bonnet, and when she was going out 
to walk, looked at the cat, and said with a plaintive 
voice, " Poor pussey ; you have no bonnet, pussey !" 

X (five years old) asked why she was as tall as the 

trees when she was far from them. 

Z (four years old) went to church, and when she 

was there, said, " Do those men do every thing better 
than we, because they talk so loud, and I think they 
read." 

It was a country church, and people sang ; but the 
child said, " She thought they didn't sing, but roared be- 
cause they were shut up in that place, and didn't like it." 

L (a boy between three and four years old) was 

standing before a grate with coals in it, which were not 
lighted ; his mother said to him, " What is the use of 
coals V 

" To put in your grate." 
" Why are they put there V 
"To make fire." 
" How do they make fire V 
" Fire is brought to them." 

Mother. " How is fire brought to them V 

L . " Fire is brought to them upon a candle, and 

put to them." 

L , a little while afterward, asked leave to light a 

candle; and when a bit of paper was given to him for 
that purpose, said, " But, mother, may 1 take some light 
out of your fire to put to it V 




APPENDIX. 527 

This boy had more exact ideas of property than 
Prometheus had. 

Z , when she was between five and six, said, 

" Water keeps things ahve, and eating keeps ahve chil- 
dren." 

Z (same age), meddling with a fly, said, " she did 

not hurt it." — " Were you ever a fly V said her mother. 
" Not that I know of,'''' answered the child. 

Z '5 father sent her into a room where there were 

some knives and forks. " If you meddle with them," 
said he, " you may cut yourself." 

Z . " I won't cut myself." 

Father. " Can you be sure of that 1" 

Z . " No, but 1 can take care." 

Father. " But if you should cut yourself, would it do 
you any good V 

Z . "No— Yes." 

Father. " What good V 

Z . " Not to do so another time." 

(same age.) Z 's mother said to her, " Will 

you give me some of your fat cheeks ?" 

Z . " No, I cannot, it would hurt me." 

Mother. " But if it would not hurt you, would you 
give me somel" 

Z . " No, it would make two holes in my cheeks 

that would be disagreeable." 

A sentimental mother would, perhaps, have been dis- 
pleased with the simple answers of this little girl. (See 
Sympathy and Sensibility.) 

The following memorandums of Mrs. H E 

(dated 1779), have been of great use to us in our chapter 
upon Toys. 

" The playthings of children should be calculated to 
fix their attention, that they may not get a habit of doing 
any thing in a listless manner. 

" There are periods as long as two or three months at 
a time, in the lives of young children, when their bodies 
appear remarkably active and vigorous, and their minds 
dull and inanimate ; they are at these times incapable 
of comprehending any new ideas, and forgetful of those 
they have already received. When this disposition to 
exert the bodily faculties subsides, children show much 
restlessness and distaste for their usual plays. The in- 
tervals between meals appear long to them ; they ask a 
multitude of questions, and are continually looking for- 



528 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

ward to some future good; if at this time any mental 
employment be presented to them, they receive it with 
the utmost avidity, and pursue it with assiduity ; their 
minds appear to have acquired additional powers from 
having remained inactive for a considerable time." 

(January,- 1781.) Z . (seven years old.) "What 

are bones made of? My father says it has not been 
found out. If I should find it out, 1 shall be wiser in that 
respect than my father." 

(April 8th.) Z . "What becomes of the blood 

when people die !" 

Father. " It stays in the body." 

Z . " I thought it went out of the body ; because 

you told me, that what we eat was turned into blood, 
and that blood nourished the body and kept it alive." 

Father. " Yes, my dear ; but blood must be in motion 
to keep the body alive ; the heart moves the blood 
through the arteries and veins, and the blood comes 
back again to the heart. We don't know how this 
motion is performed. What we eat is not turned at 
once into blood ; it is dissolved by something in the 
stomach, and is turned into something white like milk, 
which is called chyle ; the chyle passes through little 
pipes in the body, called lacteals, and into the veins and 
arteries, and becomes blood. But I don't know how. I 
will show you the inside of the body of a dead pig : a 
pig's inside is something like that of a man." 

Z (same age), when her father had given her an 

account of a large stone that was thrown to a consid- 
erable distance from Mount Vesuvius at the time of an 
eruption, asked, how the air could keep a large stone 
from falhng, when it would not support her weight. 

Z (same age), when she was reading the Roman 

history, was asked, what she thought of the conduct of 

the wife of Asdrubal. Z said she did not like her. 

She was asked why. The first reason Z gave for 

not liking the lady, was, " that she spoke loud ;" the 
next, " that she was unkind to her husband, and killed 
her children." 

We regret (though perhaps our readers may rejoice) 
that several years elapsed in which these little notes of 
the remarks of children were discontinued. In 1792 the 
following notes were begun by one of the same family. 

(March, '92.) Mr. saw an Irish giant at Bristol, 

and when he came home, Mr gave his children a 



APPENDIX. 629 

description of the giant. His height, he said, was about 

eight feet. >S (a boy of five years old) asked 

whether this giant had lived much longer than other 
men. 

Father. " No ; why did you think he had lived longer 
than other men V 

<S . " Because he was so much taller." 

Father. "Well." 

S . " And he had so much more time to grow." 

Father. " People, after a certain age, do not grow any 

more. Your sister M , and 1, and your mother, 

have not grown any taller since you can remember, 
have we ?" 

-S . " No ; but I have, and B , and C ." 

Father. " Yes ; you are children. While people are 
growing, they are children; after they have done grow- 
ing, they are called men and women." 

(April, '92.) At tea-time, to-day, somebody said that 
hot chocolate scalds worse than hot tea or hot water. 
Mr. asked his children if they could give any rea- 
son for this. They were silent. 

Mr. . " If water be made as hot as it can be made, 

and if chocolate be made as hot as it can be made, the 
chocolate will scald you the most. Can you tell me 
why !" 

C . (a girl between eight and nine years old.) " Be- 
cause there is oil, I believe, in the chocolate ; and be- 
cause it is thicker, and the parts closer together, than in 
tea or water." 

Father. " What you say is true ; but you have not ex- 
plained the reason yet. Well, H ." 

H . (a boy between nine and ten.) " Because there 

is water in the bubbles." 

Father. " Water in the bubbles ? I don't understand. 
Water in what bubbles V 

H . " I thought I had always seen, when water 

boils, that there are a great many little bubbles upon 
the top." 

Father. "Well; but what has that to do with the 
question 1 asked you 1" 

H . " Because the cold air that was in the bub- 
bles would cool the water next them, and then" — (he 
was quite confused, and stopped.) 

B (a girl of ten or eleven years old) spoke next. 

'* I thought that chocolate was much thicker than water, 
Z 



630 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

and there were more parts, and those parts were closer 
together, and each could hold but a certain quantity of 
heat; and therefore chocolate could be made hotter 
than water." 

Father. " That is a good chymical idea. You suppose 
that the chocolate and tea can be saturated with heat. 
But you have none of you yet told the reason." 

The children were all silent. 

Father. " Can water ever be made hotter than boiling 
hot r' 

B . "No." 

Father. "Whyl" 

B . " I don't know." 

Father. " What happens to water when it does what 
we call hoilV 

H . " It bubbles, and makes a sort of noise." 

B . " It turns into steam or vapour, I believe." 

Father. " All at once V 

B . " No : but what is at the top, first." 

Father. " Now you see the reason why water can't 
be made hotter than boiling hot : for if a certain degree 
of heat be applied to it, it changes into the form of va- 
pour, and flies off. When I Avas a little boy, I was once 
near having a dreadful accident. I had not been taught 
the nature of water, and steam, and heat, and evapora- 
tion ; and I wanted to fill a wet hollow stick with melted 
lead. The moment I poured the lead into the stick, the 
water in the wood turned into vapour suddenly, and the 
lead was thrown up with great violence to the ceiling: 
my face narrowly escaped. So you see people should 
know what they are about before they meddle with 
things. — But now as to the chocolate." 

No one seemed to have any thing to say about the 
chocolate. 

Father. " Water, you know, boils with a certain de- 
gree of heat. Will oil, do you think, boil with the same 
heat]" 

C . " I don't understand." 

Father. "In the same degree of heat (you must learn 
to accustom yourself to those words, though they seem 
difficult to you) — in the same heat, do you think water 
or oil would boil the soonest T" 

None of the children knew. 

Father. " Water would boil the soonest. More heat 
is necessary to make oil boil, or turn into vapour, than 



APPENDIX. 531 

to make water evaporate. Do you know of any thing 
which is used to determine, to show, and mark to us the 
different degrees of heat V 

B . " Yes ; a thermometer." 

Father. " Yes : thermometer comes from two Greek 
words, one of which signifies heat, and the other meas- 
are. Meter, means measure. Thermometer a measurer 
of heat ; barometer, a measurer of the weight of the air ; 
hygrometer, a measurer of moisture. Now, if you re- 
member, on the thermometer you have seen these words 
at a certain mark, the heat of boiling water. The quick- 
silver in a thermometer, rises to that mark when it is 
exposed to that degree of heat which will make the 
water turn into vapour. Now the degree of heat which 
is necessary to make oil evaporate, is not marked on the 
thermometer ; but it requires several degrees more heat 
to evaporate oil, than is necessary to evaporate water. 
So now you know that chocolate, containing more oil 
than is contained in tea, must be made hotter before it 
turns into vapour." 

Children may be led to acquire a taste for chymistry 
by slight hints in conversation. 

(July 22d, 1794.) Father, " S , can you tell me 

what is meant by a body's falling V 

8 — - (seven years old.) " A body's falling, means a 
body's dying, I believe." 

Father. " By lody, I don't mean a person, but any 
thing. What is meant by any thing's falling?" 

<S . " Coming down from a high place." 

Father. " What do you mean by high place V 

<S . "A place higher than places usually are; 

higher than the ground." 

Father. " What do you mean by the ground ?" 

S . " The earth." 

Father. " What shape do you think the earth is '?" 

S . "Round." 

Father. " Why do you think it is round T" 

S . " Because I have heard a great many people 

say so." 

Father. " The shadow. — It is so difficult to explain to 
you, my dear, why we think that the earth is round, tha 
I will not attempt it ye^." 

It is better, as we have often observed, to avoid al 
imperfect explanations, which give children con fuse w 
ideas. 

Z2 



532 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

(August 18th, 1794.) Master came to see us, and 

taught S to fish for mmnows. It was explained to 

S , that fishing with worms for bait, tortures the 

worms. No other argument was used, no sentimental 

exclamations made upon the occasion ; and S fished 

no more, nor did he ever mention the subject again. 

Children sometimes appear cruel, when in fact they 
do not know that they give pain to animals. 

(July 27th, 1794.) S saw a baautiful rainbow, and 

he said, " I wish I could walk over that fine arch." 

This is one of the pleasures of Ariel, and of the Sylphs 

in the Rape of the Lock. S was not praised for a 

poetic wish, lest he should learn affectation. 

(September 3d, 1794.) Mr. attempted to explain 

to B , H , S , and C , the nature of ensu- 

rance, and the day afterward he asked them to explain 
it to him. They none of them understood it, except 

B , who could not, however, explain it, though she 

did understand it. The terms were all new to them, 
and they had no ships to ensure. 

(September 19th.) At dinner to-day, S (seven 

years old) said to his sister C , "What is the name 

of that man that my father was talking to, that sounded 
like Idem, Isdal, or Izard, I believe." — " Izard !" said 
somebody at table, " that name sounds like Lizard ; yes, 
there is a family of the Lizards in the Guardian." 

S . " A real family ?" 

Mr. . " No, my dear : a name given to supposed 

characters." 

M . "Wasn't it one of the young Lizards who 

would prove to his mother, when she had just scalded 
her fingers with boiling water out of the tea-kettle, that 
there's no more heat in fire that heats you, than pain in 
the stick that beats you 1" 

Mr. . " Yes ; I think that character has done 

harm ; it has thrown a ridicule upon metaphysical dis- 
quisitions." 

Mrs. . " Are not those lines about the pain in the 

stick in the ' Letter* to my Sisters at Crux Easton,' in 
Dodsley's poems V 

Mr. . " Yes ; but they come originally from Hu- 

dibras, you know." 

In slight conversations, such as these, which are not 

* Soame Jenyns's. 



APPENDIX. 533 

contrived for the purpose, the curiosity of children is 
awakened to literature ; they see the use which people 
make of what they read, and they learn to talk freely 
about what they meet with in books. What a variety 
of thoughts came in a few instants from S 's ques- 
tion about Idem 1 

(November 8th, 1795.) Mr. • read the first chapter 

of Hugh Trevor to us ; which contains the history of a 
passionate farmer, who was in a rage with a goose 
because it would not eat some oats which he offered it. 
He tore off the wings of the animal, and twisted off its 
neck ; he bit off the ear of a pig, because it squealed 
when he was ringing it ; he ran at his apprentice, Hugh 
Trevor, with a pitchfork, because he suspected that he 
had drunk some milk ; the pitchfork stuck in a door. 
Hugh Trevor then told the passionate farmer, that the 
dog Jowler had drunk the milk, but that he would not 
tell this before, because he knew his master would hang 
the dog. 

^S admired Hugh Trevor for this extremely. 

The farmer, in his lucid intervals, is extremely peni- 
tent, but his fit of rage seizes him again one morning, 
when he sees some milk boiling over. He flies at Hugh 
Trevor, and stabs him with a claspknife with which he 
had been cutting bread and cheese ; the knife is stopped 
by half a crown which Hugh Trevor had sewed in his 
waistcoat ; this half crown he had found on the highway a 
few days before. 

It was doubted by Miss M. S , whether this last 

was a proper circumstance to be told to children, be- 
cause it might lead them to be dishonest. 

The evening after Mr. had read the story, he 

asked S to repeat it to him. S remembered it, 

and told it distinctly till he came to the half crown; at 
this circumstance he hesitated. He said he did not 
know how Hugh Trevor " came to keep it,'''' though he 
had found it. He wondered that Hugh Trevor did not 
ask about it. 

Mr. explained to him, that when a person finds 

any thing upon the highway, he should put it into the 
hand of the public crier, who should cry it. Mr. — ■■ — 
was not quite certain whether the property found on the 
high road, after it has been cried and no owner appears, 
belongs to the king, or to the person who finds it. Black- 
stone's Commentaries were consulted ; the passage 



534 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

concerning Treasuretrove was read to S ; it is writ- 
ten in such distinct language, that he understood it com- 
pletely. 

Young people may acquire much knowledge by con- 
sulting books, at the moment that any interest is excited 
by conversation upon particular subjects. 

Explanations about the laio were detailed to S , 

because he was intended for a lawyer. In conversation 
we may direct the attention of children to what are to 
be their professional studies, and we may associate en- 
tertainment and pleasure with the idea of their future 
profession. 

The story of the passionate farmer in Hugh Trevor 
was thought to be a good lesson for children of viva- 
cious tempers, as it shows to what crimes excess of 
passion may transport. This man appears an object of 
compassion ; all the children felt a mixture of pity and 
abhorrence when they heard the history of his decease. 

(November 23d, 1795.) This morning at breakfast 

Miss observed, that the inside of the cream cover, 

which was made of black Wedgwood's ware, looked 
brown and speckled, as if the glazing had been worn 
away ; she asked whether this was caused by the cream. 
One of the company immediately exclaimed, " Oh, I 
have heard that Wedgwood's ware won't hold oil." Mn 
observed, that it would be best to try the experi- 
ment, instead of resting content with this hearsay evi- 
dence ; he asked H and S what would be the 

best method of trying the experiment exactly. 

(S proposed to pour oil into a vessel of Wedg- 
wood's ware, and to measure the depth of the oil when 
first put in ; to leave the oil in the vessel for some time, 
and then to measure again the depth of the oil. 

H said, " I would weigh the Wedgwood's ware 

vessel ; then pour oil into it again ; then I would leave 
the oil in the vessel for some time, and afterward I 
would pour out the oil, and would weigh the vessel to 
see if it had gained any weight ; and then weigh the oil 
to find out whether it had lost any w^eight since it was 
put into the vessel." H 's scheme was approved. 

A black Wedgwood's ware saltcellar was weighed in 
accurate scales ; it weighed 1196 grains; 110 grains of 
oil were poured into it ; total weight of the saltcellar 
and oil, 1306 grs. Six months afterward, the saltcellar 
was produced to the children, who w^ere astonished to 



APPENDIX. 535 

perceive that the oil had disappeared. The lady who 
had first asserted that Wedgwood's ware would not hold 
oil, was inclined to believe that the oil had oozed through 
the pores of the saltcellar ; but the little spectators 
thought it was more probable that the oil might have 
been accidentally spilled ; the saltcellar weighed as be- 
fore, 1196 grains. 

The experiment was repeated, and this time it was 
resolved to lock up the saltcellar, that it might not again 
be thrown down. 

(April 14th, 1796.) Into the same saltcellar 100 grains 
weight of oil was poured (total weight, 1296 grains). 
The saltcellar was put on a saucer, and covered with a 

glass tumbler. (June 3d, 1796.) Mr. weighed the 

saltcellar, and found that with the oil it weighed pre- 
cisely the same as before, 1296 grains ; without the oil, 
1196 grains, its original weight : therefore it was clear 
that the Wedgwood's ware had neither imbibed the oil, 
nor let it pass through its pores. 

This httle experiment has not been thus minutely told 
for philosophers, but for children ; however trivial the 
subject, it is useful to teach children early to try exper-' 
iments. Even the weighing and calculating in this 
experiment amused them, and gave some ideas of the 
exactness necessary to prove any fact. 

(Dec. 1st, 1795.) S (8 years old), in reading Gay's 

fable of " the painter who pleased everybody and no- 
body," was delighted to hear that the painter put his 

palette upon his thumb, because S had seen a little 

palette of his sister A 's, which she used to put on 

her thumb. S had been much amused by this, 

and he was very fond of this sister, who had been ab- 
sent for some time. Association makes slight circum- 
stances agreeable to children ; if we do not know these 
associations, we are surprised at their expressions of 
delight. It is useful to trace them. (See Chapter on 
Imagination.) 

S seemed puzzled when he read that the painter 

" dipped his pencil, talked of Greece^ — " Why did he 
talk of Greece 1" said S with a look of astonish- 
ment. Upon inquiry, it was found that S mistook 

the word Greece for Grease ! 

It was explained to him, that Grecian statues and 
Grecian figures are generally thought to be particularly 



536 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

graceful and well executed; that, therefore, painters 
attend to them. 

(Dec. 1st, 1795.) After dinner to-day, S was 

looking at a little black toothpick-case of his father's ; 
his father asked him if he knew what it was made of. 

The children guessed different things ; wood, horn, 
bone, paper, pasteboard, glue. 

Mr. . " Instead of examining the toothpick-case, 

S , you hold it in your hand, and turn your eyes 

away from it, that you may think the better. Now, 
when I want to find out any thing about a particular ob- 
ject, I keep my eye fixed upon it. Observe the texture 
of that toothpick-case, if you want to know the mate- 
rials of which it is made ; look at the edges, feel it." 

^ . " May I smell it V 

Mr. . " Oh yes. You may use all your senses." 

jS . (feeling the toothpick-case, smelling it, and 

looking closely at it.) " It is black, and smooth, and 
strong, and light. What is, let me see, both strong and 
light, and it will bend — parchment." 

Mr. . " That is a good guess ; but you are not 

quite right yet. What is parchment 1 I think by your 
look that you don't know." 

^ . *' Is it not paper pasted together 1" 

Mr. , " No ; I thought you mistook pasteboard 

for parchment." 

>S . " Is parchment skin V' 

Mr. . "Of what?" 

Animals." 
. " What animal V 
I don't know." 
, " Parchment is the skin of sheep." 

" But S , don't keep the toothpick-case in your 

hand, push it round the table to your neighbours, that 
everybody may look again before they guess. I think, 

for certain reasons of my own, that H will guess 

right." 

H . " Oh, I know what it is now !" 

H had lately made a pump, the piston of which 

was made of leather ; the leather had been wet, and 

then forced through a mould of the proper size. H 

recollected this, as Mr. thought he would, and 

guessed that the case might have been made of leather, 
and by a similar process. 




APPENDIX. 537 

^ . " Is it made of the skin of some animal ]" 

Mr. . " Yes ; but what do you mean by the skin 

of some animal T What do you call it "?" 

>S . (laughing.) " Oh, leather ! leather !" 

H . " Yes, it's made in the same way that the 

piston of my pump is made, I suppose." 

M . " Could not shoes be made in the same man- 
ner in a mould T' 

Mr. . " Yes ; but there would be one disadvan- 
tage : the shoes would lose their shape as soon as they 
were wet ; and the sole and upper leather must be nearly 
of the same thickness." 

»S . " Is the toothpick-case made out of any par- 
ticular kind of ieatlier ] I wish 1 could make one !" 

M . " You have a bit of green leather, will you 

give it to me 1 I'll punch it out like H 's piston ; but 

1 don't exactly know how the toothpick-case was made 
into the right shape." 

Mr. . " It was made in the same manner in which 

silver pencil-cases and thimbles are made. If you take 
a thin piece of silver, or of any ductile material, and lay 
it over a concave mould, you can readily imagine that 
you can make the thin, ductile material, take the shape 
of any mould into which you put it ; and you may go on 
forcing it into moulds of different depths, till at last the 
plate of silver will have been shaped into a cylindrical 
form ; a thimble, a pencil-case, a toothpick-case, or any 
similar figure." 

We have observed (See Mechanics) that children 
should have some general idea of mechanics before 
they go into the large manufactories ; this can be given 
to them from time to time in conversation, when little 
circumstances occur which naturally lead to the subject. 

(November 30th, 1795). S said he hked the be- 
ginning of Gay's fable of " The man and the flea," very 
much, but he could not tell what was meant by the crab's 
crawling beside the coral grove, and hearing the ocean 
roll above. "The ocean cannot roll above^c^n it, mother V 

Mother. " Yes, when the animal is crawling below, he 
hears the water rolling above him." 

M . " Coral groves mean the branches of coral 

which look like trees ; you saw some at Bristol in Mr. 

B 's collection." 

The difficulty <S found in understanding " coral 

groves," confirms what has been observed, that children 
Z3 



538 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

should never read poetry without its being tlioroughly 
explained to them. (See Chapter on Books.) 

(January 10th, 1795.) *S (8 years old) said that 

he had been thinking about the wind ; and he believed 
that it was the earth's turning round that made the wind. 

M . " Then how comes it that the wind does not 

blow always the same way V 

S '• Ay, that's the thing I can't make out ; be- 
sides, perhaps the air would stick to the earth as it 
turns round, as thread sticks to my spinning top, and go 
round with it." 

(January 4th, 1795.) As we were talking of the king 

of Poland's little dwarf, S recollected by contrast 

the Irish giant whom he had seen at Bristol. "I Uked 

the Irish giant very nuich, because," said S 

" though he was so large, he was not surly ; and 
when my father asked him to take out his shoebuckle 
to try whether it would cover my foot, he did not seem 
m a hurry to do it. I suppose he did not wish to 
diow how little I was," 

Children are nice observers of that kind of politeness 
which arises from good-nature ; they may hence learn 
what really pleases in manners, without being taught 
grimace. 

Dwarfs and giants led us to Gulliver's Travels, S 

had never read them, but one of the company now gave 
him some general account of Lilliput and Brobdignag. 
He thought the account of the httle people more enter- 
taining than that of the large ones ; the carriage of 
Gulliver's hat by a team of Lilliputian horses, diverted 
him ; but, when he was told that the queen of Brobdig- 
nag's dwarf stuck Gulliver one day at dinner into a mar- 
rowbone, S — ^^ — looked grave, and seemed rather 
shocked than amused ; he said, " It must have almost 
suffocated poor Gulliver, and must have spoiled his 

clothes." S wondered of what cloth they could 

make him new clothes, because the cloth in Brobdignag 
must have been too thick, and as thick as a board. He- 
also wished to know what sort of glass was used to 
glaze the windows in Gulliver's wooden house : " be- 
cause," said he, " their common glass must have been 
so thick that it would not have been transparent to Gul- 
liver." He thought that Gulliver must have been ex- 
tremely afraid of setting his small wooden house on fire. 
M . " Why p.iore afraid than we are 1 his hous© 



APPENDIX. 539 

S . " Yes, but what makes the fire must have been 

so much larger ! One cinder, one spark of theirs, would 
have filled his little grate. And how did he do to read 
their books r' 

<S was told that Gulliver stood at the topmost line 

of the page, and ran along as fast as he read, till he got 
to the bottom of the page. It was suggested that Gul- 
liver might have used a diminishing glass. S im- 
mediately exclaimed, " How entertaining it must have 
been to him to look through their telescopes." An 
instance of invention arisnig from contrast. 

If the conversation had not here been interrupted, 

S would probably have invented a greater variety 

of pleasures and difficulties for Gulliver ; his eagerness 
to read Gulliver's Travels, was increased by this con- 
versation. We should let children exercise their inven- 
tion upon all subjects, and not tell them the whole of 
everything, and all the ingenious parts of a story. Some- 
times they invent these, and are then interested to see 
how the real author has managed them. Thus, chil- 
dren's love for literature may be increased, and the 
activity of their minds may be exercised. " Le secret 
d'ennuyer," says an author* who never tires us, " Le 
secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire." This may be> 
applied to the art of education. ■ (See Attention, Mem- 
ory and Invention.) 

(January 17th, 1796.) S . "I don't understand 

about the tides." 

H . (thirteen years old.) "The moon, when it 

comes near the earth, draws up the sea by the middle, at- 
tracts it, and, as the middle rises, the water runs down 
from that again into the channels of rivers." 

<S . "But — Hum ! — the moon attracts the sea ; but 

why does not the sun attract it by the middle as well as 
the moon 1 How can you be sure that it is the moon 
that does it V 

Mr. . " We are not sure that the moon is the 

cause of tides." 

We should never force any system upon the belief of 
children ; but wait till they can understand all the argu- 
ments on each side of the question. 

(January 18th, 1796.) S (nine years old.) " Father, 

I have thought of a reason for the wind's blowing." 

* Voltaire. 



540 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

" When there has been a hot, sunshiny day, and when 
the ground has been wet, the sun attracts a great deal 
of vapour : then that vapour must have room, so it must 
push away some air to make room for itself; besides, 
vapour swells with heat, so it must have di great, great diedl 
of room as it grows hotter and hotter ; and the moving 
the air to make way for it must make wind." 

It is probable, that if children are not early taught by 
rote words which they cannot understand, they will 
think for themselves ; and, however strange their in- 
cipient theories may appear, there is hope for the im- 
provement of children as long as their minds are active. 

(February 13th, 1796.) S . " How do physicians 

try new medicines ] If they are not sure they will 
succeed, they may be hanged for murder, mayn't they ? 
It is cruel to try them {them meant medicines) on ani- 
mals ; besides, all animals are not the same as men. A 
pig's inside is the most like that of a man. I remember 
my father showed us the inside of a pig once." 

Some time afterward, S inquired what was meant 

by the circulation of the blood. " How are we sure 
that it does move ] You told me that it doesn't move 
after we die, then nobody can have seen it really moving 
in the veins ; that beating that I feel in my pulse does 
not feel like any thing running backward and forward ; 
it beats up and down." 

The lady to whom S addressed these questions 

and observations, unfortunately, could not give him any 
information upon this subject, but she had at least the 
prudence, or honesty, to tell the boy that " she did not 
know any thing about the matter." 

S should have been shown the circulation of the 

blood in fishes ; which he might have seen by a micro- 
scope. 

Children's minds turn to such inquiries : surely, if 
they are intended for physicians, these are the moments 
to give them a taste for their future profession, by as- 
sociating pleasure with instruction, and connecting with 
the eagerness of curiosity the hope of making discov- 
eries ; a hope which all vivacious young people strongly 
feel. 

(February 16th.) S objected to that fable of 

Phaedrus in which it is said that a boy threw a stone at 
-^sop, and that ^sop told the boy to throw a stone at 
another passenger, pointing to a rich man. The boy 



APPENDIX. 541 

did as ^sop desired, and the rich man had the boy 
hanged. 

S said that he thought that ^sop should have 

been hanged, because ^sop was the cause of the boy's 
fault. 

How little suited political fables are to children. 
This fable, which was meant to show, we suppose, that 
the rich could not, like the poor, be insulted with im- 
punity, was quite unintelligible to a boy (nine years old) 
of simple understanding. 

(July 19th, 1796.) Among " Vulgar errors,'''' Sir 
Thomas Browne might have mentioned the common 
notion, that if you take a hen and hold her head down to 
the ground, and draw a circle of chalk round her, she 
will be enchanted by this magical operation so that she 
cannot stir. We determined to try the experiment, for 
which Dr. Johnson would have laughed at us, as he 
laughed at Browne* for trying " the hopeless experiment'''* 
about the magnetic dials. 

A hen's head was held down upon a stone flag, and a 
chalk line was drawn before her ; she did not move. 
The same hen was put into a circle of chalk that had 
been previously drawn for her reception ; her head was 
held down according to the letter of the charm, and she 
did not move ; line or circle apparently operated alike. 

It was suggested (by A ) that perhaps the hen was 

frightened by her head being held down to the ground, 
and that the chalk line and circle had nothing to do with 
the business. The hen was carried out of sight of the 
magic line and circle, her head was held down to the 
ground as before ; and when the person who had held 
her gently withdrew his hand, she did not move. She 
did not, for some instants, recover from her terror ; or, 
perhaps, the feeling of pressure seemed to her to remain 
upon her head after the hand was withdrawn. 

Children who are accustomed to doubt, and to try 
experiments, will not be dupes to " Vulgar errors." 

(July 20th, 1796.) S (between nine and ten), when 

he heard a lady propose to make use of a small glass 
tumbler to hold pomatum, made a face expressive of 
great disgust ; he was begged to give a reason for his 
dislike. S said it appeared to him dirty and disa« 

* See Johnson's Life of BroAvne. 



542 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

greeabie to put pomatum into a tumbler out of which 
we are used to drink wine or water. 

We have observed (See Chapter on Taste and Ima- 
gination), that children may early be led to reflect upon 
the cause of their tastes. 

(July 24th, 1796.) S observed that " the lachry- 
mal sack is like Aboulcasem's cup, (in the Persian 
tales.) It is emptied and fills again of itself; though it 
is emptied ever so often, it continues full." 

The power of reasoning had been more cultivated in 

S than the taste for wit or allusion ; yet it seems 

his mind was not defective in that quickness of seizing 
resemblances which may lead to wit. He was not 
praised for the lachrymal sack and Aboulcasem's cup. 
(See Chapter on Wit and Judgment.) 

(August 3d, 1796.) C (eleven years old), after she 

had heard a description of a fire-engine, said, " I want to 
read the description of the fire-engine over again ; for 
while my father was describing one particular part, I 
recollected something that I had heard before, and that 
took my attention quite away from what he was saying. 
Very often when I am listening, something that is said 
puts me in mind of something, and then I go on think- 
ing of that, and I cannot hear what is said any longer." 

Preceptors should listen to the observations that their 

pupils make upon their minds ; this remark of C 

suggested to us some ideas that have been detailed in 
the " Chapter on Attention." 

(August 1st, 1796.) S , who had been translating 

some of Ovid's Metamorphoses to his father, exclaimed, 
"I hate those ancient gods and goddesses, they are 
so wicked ! I wish 1 was Perseus, and had his shield, 
I would fly up to heaven and turn Jupiter, and Apollo, 
and Venus, into stone ; then they would be too heavy to 
stay in heaven, and they would tumble down to earth ; 
and then they would be stone statues, and we should 
have much finer statues of Apollo and Venus than they 
have now at Rome." 

(September 10th, 1796.) S (within a month often 

years old) read to his sister M part of Dr. Darwin's 

chapter upon instinct ; that part in which there is an ac- 
count of young birds that learn to sing from the birds 

which take care of them, not from their parents. S 

immediately recollected a story which he had read last 
winter in the Annual Register. (Extract from Barring- 



APPENDIX. 543 

ton's Remarks upon Singing-birds.) — "There was a 
silly boy once (you know, sister, boys are silly some- 
times), who used to play in a room where his mother 
had a nightingale in a cage, and the boy took out of the 
cage the nightingale's eggs, and put in some other bird's 
eggs (a swallow's, I think), and the nightingale hatched 
them ; and when the swallows grew up they sang like 

nightingales." When S had done reading, he looked 

at the title of the book. He had often heard his father 
speak of Zoonomia, and he knew that Dr. Darwin was 
the author of it. 

-S . " Oh ho ! Zoonomia ! Dr. Darwin wrote it ; it 

is very entertaining : my father told me that when I read 
Zoonomia, I should know the reason why 1 stretch my- 
self when I am tired. But, sister, there is one thing I 
read about the cuckoo that I did not quite understand. 
May I look at it again 1" He read the following pas- 



" For a hen teaches this language with ease to the 
ducklings she has hatched from supposititious eggs, and 
educates as her own offspring ; and the wagtails or 
hedge-sparrows learn it from the young cuckoo, their 
foster-nursling, and supply him with his food long after he 
can fly about, whenever they hear his cuckooing, which 
Linnaeus tells us is his call of hunger." 

5^ asked what Dr. Darwin meant by " learns i^." 

M . " Learns a language." 

S . " What does foster-nursling mean V 

M . " It here means a bird that is nursed along 

with another, but that has not the same parents." 

*S . " Then, does it not mean that the sparrows 

learn from their foster-sister, the cuckoo, to say 
Cuckoo V 

M . " No ; the sparrow don't learn to say cuckoo, 

but they learn to understand what he means by that cry ; 
that he is hungry." 

S . " Well, but then I think this is a proof against 

what Dr. Darwin means about instinct." 

M . "Whyl How?" 

iS . " Because the young cuckoo does say cuckoo, 

without being taught ; it does not learn from the spar- 
rows. How comes it to say cuckoo at all, if it is not 
by instinct 1 It does not see its own father and mother." 

We give this conversation as a proof that our young 



544 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

pupils were accustomed to think about every thing that 
they read. 

(Nov. 8th, 1796.) The following are the " Curiosities 
of Literature'"' which were promised to the reader in the 
chapter upon Grammar and Classical Literature. 

Translation from Ovid. The Cave of Sleep, ^r*? 
edition. 

"No watchful cock Aurora's beams invite; 
No dog nor goose, the guardians of the night." 

Dog and goose were objected to, and the young author 
changed them into dogs and geese. 

" No herds, nor flocks, nor human voice is heard ; 
But nigh the cave a rustling spring appear'd." 

When this line was read to S , he changed the 

epithet rusding into gliding. 

"And with soft murmurs faithless sleep invites, 
And there the flying past again dehghts ; 
And near the door the noxious poppy grows, 
And spreads his sleepy milk at dayhght's close." 

S was now requested to translate the beginning 

of the sentence, and he produced these lines : — 

" Far from the sun there lies a cave forlorn, 
Which Sol's bright beams can't enter eve nor morn." 

Can't was objected to. Mr. asked S what 

was the literal English. S first said not, and then 

nor; and he corrected his line, and made it 

" Which Sol's bright beams nor visit eve nor morn.' 
Afterward — 

" Far in a vale there lies a cave forlorn. 
Which Phoebus never enters eve nor morn." 

After an interval of a few days, the lines were all read 
to the boy, to try whether he could farther correct them ; 
he desired to have the two following lines left out : — 

" No herds, nor flocks, nor human voice is heard 
But nigh the cave a gliding spring appear'd." 

And in the place of them he wrote, 

" No flocks nor herds disturb the silent plains : 
Within the sacred walls mute quiet reigns." 

Instead of the two following : — 



APPENDIX. 545 

" And with soft murmurs faithless sleep invites, 
And there the flying past again delights." 

S desired his secretary to write, 

" But murmuring Lethe soothing sleep invites, 
In dreams again the flying past dehghts." 

Instead of, 

"And near the doors the noxious poppy grows, 
And spreads his sleepy milk at daylight's close," 

the following lines were written. S did not say 

doors, because he thought the cave had no doors ; yet 
his Latin, he said, spoke of squeaking hinges. 

" From milky flowers that near the cavern grow. 
Night scatters the collected sleep below." 

We shall not make any farther apology for inserting 
all these corrections, because we have already suffi- 
ciently explained our motives. (See Chapter on Gram- 
mar and Classical Literature.) 

(February, 1797.) A little theatre was put up for the 
children, and they acted "Justice Poz."* When the 
scenes were pulled down afterward, S was ex- 
tremely sorry to see the whole theatre vanish ; he had 
succeeded as an actor, and he wished to have another 
play acted. His father did not wish that he should be- 
come ambitious of excelling in this way at ten years 
old, because it might turn his attention away from things 
of more consequence ; and if he had been much ap- 
plauded for this talent, he would, perhaps, be over-stim- 
ulated. (See Chapter on Vanity and Ambition.) 

The way to turn this boy's mind away from its pres- 
ent pursuit, was to give him another object, not to blame 
or check him for the natural expression of his wishes. 
It is difficult to find objects for children who have not 
cultivated a taste for literature ; but infinite variety can 
be found for those who have acquired this happy taste. 

Soon after S had expressed his ardent wish to 

have another play performed, the trial of some poor 
man in the neighbourhood happened to be mentioned ; 
and it was said that the criminal had the choice of either 
going to Botany Bay, or being hanged. 

S asked how that could be. " I didn't think," said 

he, " that a man could have two punishments. Can the 

* Parent's Assistant. 



646 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

judge change the punishment ? I thought it was fixed 
by the law." 

Mr. told S that these were sensible ques- 
tions ; and as he saw that the boy's attention was fixed, 
he seized the opportunity to give some general idea 

upon the subject. He began with teUing S the 

manner in which a suspected person is brought before 
a justice of the peace. A warrant and committal were 
described ; then the manner of trying criminals ; what 
is called the court, the jury, &c. ; the crier of the court, 
and the forms of a trial ; the reason why the prisoner, 
when he is asked how he will be tried, answers, " By 
God and my country :" this led to an account of the old 
absurd fire and water ordeals, and thence the advantages 
of a trial by jury became more apparent by comparison. 

Mr. told S why it is called empannelling a 

jury, and why the jury are called a panel ; the manner 
in which the jury give their verdict ; the duty of the 
judge, to sum up the evidence, to explain the law to the 
jury. " The judge is, by the humane laws of England, 
alwnys supposed to be the protector of the accused ; 

and now, 8 , we are come round to your question ; 

the judge cannot make the punishment more severe ; 
but when the punishment is fine or imprisonment, the 
quantity or duration of the punishment is left to his judg- 
ment. The king may remit the punishment entirely ; 
he may pardon the criminal ; he may, if a man be sen- 
tenced to be hanged, give him his choice, whether he 
will be hanged or transported y — (The word was ex- 
plained.) 

" But," said S , " since the judge cannot change 

the punishment, why may the king ] I think it is very 
unjust that the king should have such a power, because 
if he changes the punishment for one thing, why mayn't 
he for another, and another, and so on V 

Mr. . " I am inclined to believe, my dear S , 

that it is for the good of a state, that a king should have 
such a power ; but I am not sure. If any individual 
should have this power, I think it is most safely trusted 
to a king ; because, as he has no connexion with the 
individuals who are tried, as he does not live among 
them, he is not so liable as judges and jurymen might be 
to be prejudiced, to be influenced by personal revenge, 
friendship, or pity. When he pardons, he is supposed 
to pardon without any personal motives. But of all this. 



APPENDIX. 547 

S , you will judge for yourself, when you study the 

law. 1 intend to take you with me to next assizes, 

to hear a trial." 

S looked full as eager to hear a trial, as he had 

done, half an hour before, to act a play. We should 
mention that in the little play in which he had acted, he 
had played the part of a justice of the peace, and a sort 
of trial formed the business of the play ; the ideas of 
trials and law, therefore, joined readily with his former 
train of thought. Much of the success of education de- 
pends upon the preceptor's seizing these slight connex- 
ions. It is scarcely possible to explain this fully in 
writing. 

(February 25th, 1797.) S was reading in " Even- 
ings at Home," the story of " A friend in need, is a 
friend indeed." 

" Mr. G. Cornish, having raised a moderate fortune, 
and being now beyond the meridian of life, he felt a 
strong desire of returning to his native country." ♦ 

S . " How much better that is, than to say he 

felt an irresistible desire, or an insupportable desire, as 
people sometimes say in books." 

Our pupils were always permitted to stop when they 
were reading loud, to make, whatever remarks they 
pleased upon whatever books they read. They did not, 
by this method, get through so many books as other 
children of their age usually do ; but their taste for read- 
ing seemed to increase rapidly. (See Books.) 

(March 8th, 1797.) H (fourteen) told us that he 

remembered seeing, when he was five years old, some 
puppets packed up by a showman in a triangular box ; 

" and for some time afterward," said H , " when I 

saw my father's triangular hatbox, I expected puppets 
to come out of it. A few days ago, I met a man with a 
triangular box upon his head, and I thought that there 
were puppets in the box." 

We have taken notice of this propensity in children, 
to believe that particular are general causes ; and we 
have endeavoured to show how it affects the temper 
and' the habits of reasoning. (See Temper, and Wit 
dtj'd Judgment.) 

v'';:(Mareh:^7th, 1797.) Mr. showed little W 

'^^ree years old) a watch, and asked him if he thought 
tliat it was -alive. 
'Yes." 




648 PRACTICAL EDUCATION. 

Mr. . " Do vou think that the fire is alive ?" 

W . "Yes." 

Mr. (The child was standing at the tea-table.) 

" Do you think the urn is alive 1" 

W . "No." 

Mr. . " Do you think that book is alive V 

No." 

" The horses 1" 

Yes" 

" Do you think that the chaise is alive !" 

Yes." Then, after looking in Mr. 's 

face, he changed his opinion, and said, No. 

W did not seem to know what was meant by the 

word alive. 

Mr. called H. (five years old), and asked her 

whether she thought that the watch was alive. She at 
first said, Yes ; but, as soon as she had time to recollect 
herself, she said that the watch was not alive. 

This question was asked, to try whether Reid was 
right in his conjecture as to the answers a child would 
give to such a question. (See Reid's Essays on the In- 
tellectual Powers of Man.) 

We frequently say that flowers, &c. are dead : we 
should explain to children that there are two kinds of 
life ; or rather, that the word life is used to express two 
ideas ; vegetable life and animal life. 

(July, 1797.) Miss Louisa told us, that when a 

rosebud begins to wither, if you burn the end of the 
stalk, and plunge it redhot into water, the rose will be 
found revived the next day ; and by a repetition of this 
burning, the lives of flowers may be fortunately pro- 
longed many days. Miss Louisa had seen many 

surprising recoveries performed by this operation, and 
several of her friends had adopted the practice with uni- 
form success. 

We determined to repeat the experiment. Children 
should never take any thing upon trust which they can 
verify. Two roses, gathered at the same time, from 
the same tree, were put into separate glasses of water. 
The stalk of one of these roses was burnt, according to 
prescription ; they were left a night in water, and the 
next day the rose that had been burnt, appeared in 
much better health than that which had not been burnt. 
The experiment was afterward several times repeated, 



APPENDIX. 649 

and should be tried by others until the fact be fully- 
ascertained. 

(July, 1797.) Little W (three years old) was 

shown Miss R 's beautiful copy of the Aurora sur- 

gens of Guido. The car of Apollo is encircled by the 
dancing hours, so that its shape is not seen ; part of 
one wheel only is visible between the robes of the 

dancing figures. We asked little W why that man 

(pointing to the figure of Apollo in his invisible car) 
looked so much higher up in the air than the other 
people 1 

W . " Because he is in a carriage ; he is sitting 

in a carriage." 

We pointed to the imperfect wheel, and asked if he 
knew what that was 1 He immediately answered, " Yes, 
the wheel of the carriage." We wanted to see whether 
the imagination of a child of three years old, would 
supply the invisible parts of the car ; and whether the 
wheel and horses, and man holding the reins, would 
suggest the idea of a phaeton. (See Chapter on Taste 
and Imagination.) 

We shall not trespass upon the reader's patience with 
any more anecdotes from the nursery. We hope that 
candid and intelligent parents will pardon, if they have 
discovered any desire in us to exhibit our pupils. We 
may mistake our own motives, and we do not pretend 
to be perfectly impartial judges upon this occasion ; but 
we hope that only such conversations or anecdotes 
have been produced, as may be of some use in practical 
education. From conversation, if properly managed, 
children may learn with ease, expedition, and delight, a 
variety of knowledge ; and a skilful preceptor can apply 
in conversation all the principles that we have labori- 
ously endeavoured to make intelhgible. 



THE END. 

















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